It's a Mistake, maybe
by YuKanda
Summary: Kanda is a detective in NY, but his secret dream is to become a writer. After Lenalee plunged into his house, suddenly that dream comes true. And a certain redheaded reporter starts to follow him everywhere... LaviYuu AU
1. Chapter 1: Daily Press

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own D. Gray-man, all belong to Hoshino sensei... If it was otherwise... Lavi and Kanda should have been together from like FOREVER! **

**WARNING: YAOI - if you don't know what this word means, or if you don't like boy/boy relationship this story is not for you, don't say I didn't tell you! You know the song, DON'T LIKE DON'T READ!**

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As always, a big THANKS to EM1&EM2, aka Saxon-Jesus who did the beta work for me ^_^

I love you!

And, as always, this AU too it's Kanda/Lavi or LaviYuu, whatever you wanna put it. Because I'm LaviYuu sick, yeah XD

What else to say? Well, ENJOY!

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**6 JUNE 2010, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KANDA!**

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So with Kanda's Birthday this year too starts the second LaviYu Festival!

**Welcome to the _LaviYu Festival_, now at its second year!**

For those who still don't know what the hell I'm talking about, please go check my profile and visit the link to the Festival Official HeadQuarters!

To make a brief look up over it, the Festival, supported by the LaviYuu fans from all over the world, placed itself between Lavi and Kanda's two Birthdays, beginning with today, 6 June 2010, Kanda's Birthday, and culminating with the LaviYu Day, which it was chosen exactly in the middle of their two Birthdays, on 8th JULY, to then end on 10th AUGUST with Lavi's Birthday.

This year the celebration has a true planning with also some contests, you can find the link to the LaviYu Fest schedule on my profile page as well.

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_**IT'S A MISTAKE... MAYBE**_

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_**Chapter 1: Daily Press**_  
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New York. The Big Apple. The most chaotic city he had ever seen, but in his own way, Kanda Yuu loved it. Maybe.

When someone wasn't knocking insistently at his door at nine o'clock in the morning after he'd done the night shift at the Police Precinct.

Kanda Yuu, 22 years old, Japanese, recently naturalized American. Currently employed as a detective in the 49th Precinct of New York, in the Bronx area. Certainly not the best possible place, but at least it was not monotonous, sure... sometimes too often for his liking.

And that night was one of those _less_ monotonous ones, so he was tired and wanted to sleep. If only anyone was now at the door would've stopped knocking on it!

But the noise didn't cease. When a woman's voice was added to the annoying strokes, Kanda knew that he had no choice but to go to open the door, because that fucking harpy of a concierge would never leave him alone otherwise. Surely, she had come to complain again about the outstanding rent. Dammit.

_"Fucking witch," _Kanda railed to himself as he quickly slipped on his trousers and dragged his body towards the door, opening it at once.

He blinked his eyes several times to make sure to focus properly on the astonished face he found in front of him, and who was staring at him with eyes slightly wide-opened, her lips stopped at half of what she was saying and one hand still raised in the act of knocking.

"Ka-Kan..."

"Lenalee! What the hell are you doing here!" Kanda finally managed to utter, stunned to see her in front of his door. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

The girl gave another look at his disheveled appearance (she was not used to seeing him with his hair free on his shoulders), moving a hand to cover her mouth, and letting out an embarrassed giggle.

"There... You see... I've been thrown out from the dorm." Lenalee answered candidly, showing the suitcase she was carrying. "Can I stay here with you? Just until I find another arrangement, I promise!" She said with folded hands before Kanda could argue, noting that his forehead had immediately wrinkled in a frown.

"What will the neighbors say? And the fucking concierge will pester me like hell because I brought a woman in her house!" Kanda opened his arms in a very eloquent manner to emphasize his point of view on the matter. "Not to mention your idiot brother!"

"Oh, you know that my brother trusts you blindly." Lenalee gave him her best innocent and hopeful expression, which she knew the Japanese youth couldn't resist. "Please..."

Kanda sighed, stepping aside to let her in, and slamming the door behind himself. The fact that they grew up together made her the closest thing to a friend that he'd ever had, but this didn't give her the right to interfere in his life that way...

They had a good relationship, sure, but this didn't mean he could bear to live with her for as little or as much time that it could be... _Oh, fuck!_

She followed him obediently, parked her suitcase in the Japanese man's room and cast him another disarming smile: and Kanda knew then that he would be sleeping on the couch. That was definitely a bad start for the day.

He would have had to adapt his study to let the girl sleep there, and regain in doing so his room with his beloved privacy. But what irritated him the most in the whole fucking thing was that he had a more than precise idea about who the guilty party of his current troubles was. Ah, if he only could lay his hands on him!

"Does this have anything to do with that ridiculous albino midget who claims to work in the school's little newspaper, right?" Kanda spat out in a sharp tone, every word steeped with poison while leaving his mouth.

He then let the girl have a seat in the kitchen and began to prepare some tea for the both of them.

Lenalee put on a hurt expression, feeling cut to the quick by the young man's words. It was a fact that Allen wasn't that good of a reporter, but it wasn't needed to emphasize it in so brutal a way.

"Oh, don't say that! He was hired part-time in a real newspaper, the Daily Press!" She exclaimed whole-heartedly, trying to defend her supposed suitor against the accusations of ineptitude that hung over him.

"As a deliveryman, I bet." Kanda's face formed a pleased sneer as he saw his current apartment-mate's eyes going wide: he'd hit the mark, he thought triumphantly.

"Well, everyone has to begin somehow, right?" Lenalee retorted, pouting.

The Japanese man held back another cruel comment, filling their cups and handing one to the girl, then sitting in front of her. He brought the tea to his lips, sipping with satisfaction, when a sudden thought struck him.

"How on earth did you get in here?" He asked out of the blue. Kanda was 100% certain that the fucking harpy was always on the lookout in her post, and therefore something was surely wrong with it all. "With the suitcase too!"

"Oh, I said I'm your girlfriend, and that I'm moving in with you." The Chinese girl spoke those words in such a casual way, like it was the most obvious and natural thing in the world, that Kanda could not help but cast her a completely shocked look.

"You said... what?" The young man gasped, almost choking with the tea he was drinking. "Are you crazy?"

"Come on, there's no harm in it, it's only for appearances." She met the other's incredulous gaze with her disarming smile, and Kanda slumped his shoulders, defeated.

Lenalee kept smiling at him, her face radiant and her expression full of expectation. Now the damage was done, he just had to play along with the game. He sighed. And he couldn't even go back to sleep.

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"Hey, Lavi!" Someone shouted over the sound of many fingers typing, lots of people talking, and other phones ringing. The red-haired youth turned, a donut in his mouth and a pen tucked behind his ear, casting a questioning look towards the one who had called him. "The old Bookman on line two! And he also seems to be very upset, if you ask me!"

Dammit, again! It was the fourth time in two days that the old man had called to complain about the trend of the newspaper, and he didn't really know what new excuse he could cook up.

He settled the eyepatch that covered his right eye, pulling the bandana with which he tried in vain to hold the rebel locks of his flaming red hair at bay a bit further down, and scratched his head thoughtfully.

What if he got the other reporter to say he wasn't in? No, it was too late by now, he had to answer and face Bookman's wrath.

After all, the newspaper was booming, if the old man didn't like how he ran it, he could also come to the office sometimes and do the job himself. He picked up the phone slowly, cautiously, and brought it with the same caution to his ear.

_«__Lavi! You, useless idiot!__»_ Shouted the voice at the other end of the wire.

"Love you too, Grandpa." Said the young man, moving the receiver to a safe distance from his eardrum. A blind eye was more than enough; he wouldn't want to become deaf in one ear as well.

Lavi Bookman, 22 years old, nationality unknown. Adopted by Bookman Senior, the owner of the newspaper where he was working, was now in all respects American. Pluri-graduated already at his young age, the boy prodigy had to be the pride of his guardian and mentor. Instead, he actually was the man's despair.

The newspaper that had to be a serious and blameless masthead, under Lavi's direction was slowly turning into a paper of news, something the old Bookman considered to be the step before of becoming a squalid tabloid magazine.

But all the redhead's efforts to make his grandfather understand that he indeed had saved the newspaper from bankruptcy were useless. A newspaper just talking about history wasn't much of a choice in line with the market...

_«__I want you behind the discovery of these archaeological relics immediately, you hear me?__» _Bookman was nearly shouting at him. _«__And I want your article about it on my desk tomorrow morning!__»_

What else could he do? This time he had to yield, after all, that discovery had a certain importance, it would have turned out into a good article.

" 'Kay, 'kay, stop worryin' or you'll have a stroke, you ugly wizened geezer!" Said the redhead in a mocking tone. " 'M goin' there at once."

_«__Lavi! Be respectful, you unworthy grandson!__»_ Bookman protested, but Lavi had already closed the communication.

"Hey, Johnny!" He shouted at the little chap who called him to answer the phone just before, putting his camera over his shoulder. "I've t'go out for a report, fish out the albino, I need someone t'help me shootin' photos." The other nodded, and Lavi headed toward the entrance, waiting for his assistant to arrive.

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Kanda drew out a sigh of relief when finally, three days after Lenalee's arrival in his house, he was able to regain possession of his beloved bed. He knew the girl wouldn't leave so soon, so he had had to share his study with her, and preferably indulging in his current primary hobby (after the training with his beloved katana, of course) without the girl around, or bringing his computer into his own room, since Lenalee had hers.

The important thing was that she'd never caught him writing; that would have cost him dear on pride terms.

But above all, Lenalee would have claimed immediately to read every fucking thing and then give her bloody opinion and meddling in his work, criticizing his choices and beginning to make suggestions everywhere. Not to mention that she would have tried, no doubt, convincing him to change the plot of his stories...

So no, she mustn't even suspect that his dream now was to become a writer, and that he was already sending his works from quite a long time to any publisher willing to examine the deeds of emerging authors... Not that there was something wrong in knowing it, no, but...

So far, every file he had sent was rejected by each and every publisher, and he didn't want that defeat to become public, it was too embarrassing for someone as proud as Kanda. It made him feel silly, and also, unsure of his true abilities, though he would never have admitted to it, ever.

However, he believed he had improved really a lot since he had started writing, and the last story he had just finished let him hope for the best. He was very confident about it. He had put all his efforts toward creating that crime story, thanks to his first-hand knowledge of the field.

Now he just had to send it to another publisher and wait. It was a minor publishing house this time, with a name so banal – Bookman Publishing – which until then he'd never considered among those to which send his writings; but now that he was almost to despair everything became an option.

It irritated him so much to admit it, but he really needed extra money, and selling one of his stories could help, even the small amount he would earn if it was accepted. He sighed, leaving the parcel containing the precious CD at the post office and hoping that his luck would turn this time.

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Lenalee was really curious about why Kanda was so protective and mysterious about his computer. After all, now that he quit going to university he didn't need it as much, at best, he used it the most for his work, to type some report at home instead of doing it at the Police Precinct.

So why had he categorically forbidden her to touch it? The thing was suspect, and because of that, very, very interesting. If Kanda Yuu was hiding something, there was always a good reason behind it, which then made it absolutely important to discover. And Lenalee had excellent grades in computer science: she would hack the password.

One afternoon, when Kanda had the night shift, Lenalee decided to enter into action, knowing that she had the calmness of a whole night to try entering the Japanese man's computer. But to her great surprise, Kanda was more predictable than she'd dared to hope, and Lenalee got in after her first attempt.

The Japanese youth had used his sword's name, Mugen, as a password. _Too obvious, Kanda-kun!_, the girl thought, giggling complacently to herself as she began to rummage among her current co-tenant's files.

It didn't take long for her to locate the indicted folder. Kanda had made little effort to disguise it, and indeed, why should he? He lived alone... until shortly before, of course. Lenalee opened the first file, thinking it was a collection of hard core stories (or photos) Kanda was ashamed that she could find out.

Instead she gasped open mouthed ascertaining that she childhood friend, that same Kanda Yuu who had always shown himself cold and impatient towards everything, the stoic, callous, cynical Kanda Yuu she thought she knew like her pockets, was actually writing stories.

More, it was not a whim, all of them were meticulously cataloged, and there were reported all the publishers to whom he had sent them – and from which they were promptly rejected – with dates and notes. Her Kanda-kun wanted to become a writer! Now that really was shocking news.

She copied the folder's entire contents onto a USB pen and poured it into his laptop, then put all back as it was in Kanda's room: she would read everything calmly in the safety of her room.

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From the beginning it was clear to her why the publishers had rejected all of Kanda's work: defining them just as banal was an euphemism. However hard he had engaged in it, his grammar gaps were more than evident, his outlines were too predictable, the characters were flat and not very developed, and the situations had no verve at all.

But the background was very accurate, thanks to the fact that the young man worked in the field, so the stories had potential, they just needed to be developed a little more...

So Lenalee decided she would lend him a hand, willingly or unwillingly. Thus, starting from the first story, she did her best to correct them all from head to foot, developing and adding that missing bite to the plot with her 'personal touch'.

Now she just had to wait for Kanda to decide to send something to another publisher, exchange the files, and the game was over.

She then began to keep an eye on him, very discreetly, taking particular care that her every action, every question, seemed completely random to the Japanese man. And Lenalee was damn skillful at looking innocent.

It soon became clear that Kanda was working on another story, and she simultaneously devoted herself to it while he was working at the Police Precinct.

She really admired the imagination that the youth just showed to possess and of which she would never have believed he was capable. He had always seemed so... material. Every emotion scrupulously kept under control, no dreams, no illusions.

Instead she was wrong, realized Lenalee in that very moment. Kanda dreamed. He hoped. And she would have helped him to fulfill his wish.

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Two weeks later, Kanda seemed ready to ship the file. Lenalee could tell that from the time he spent at the computer when he wasn't in duty at the Precinct. And then _the envelope _had appeared, which was waiting for an address to be placed on it over the young man's desk.

The Chinese girl was also ready, and after the last check to Kanda's written text, she prepared her own CD, then set a trap for him, pretending to go to her class and instead lurking in a side street, waiting to follow him.

Kanda came out of the building shortly afterwards, looked around himself, and continued toward his goal absently.

Lenalee knew she had no hopes of following him without being discovered, but from the direction he took, she could guess to which Post Office Kanda was heading: she would get there before him.

Sitting in a bar in front of said Post Office, she watched the Japanese youth going inside it and waited patiently for him to come out and walk far enough away, before moving into action. She was going to put on a play worthy of an Oscar Award.

She entered the office pretending to be worried, wearing a slightly sullen little-face, and approached hesitantly to the man who was at the letters and parcels window, addressing him with a shy smile. He greeted her warmly, asking about what she needed.

"I made a big mess..." Confessed the girl, looking down and nervously rubbing the belt of her handbag. "But I'm not sure if you can help me..." She added next, looking the man in the face again, showing off her most innocent expression.

"What in the world could ever have happened to you, miss! Please tell me all about it, you'll see that we'll find a solution!" The man immediately offered, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks.  
Lenalee mentally congratulated with herself: she was already holding him in the palm of her hand.

"Oh, you see, I put the wrong CD into the envelope that my boss came to send this morning, and if he realizes it, I'll be in big trouble!" Bemoaned the girl, pretending to be desperate. "That man has no heart, he's capable of firing me right after." She added a fake sob for good measure to that revelation.

"Come on, don't do that, just describe your boss and the envelope to me, so I can manage find it and you will be able to exchange the content. You have the correct CD with you, right?" The employee took the box with all the letters he had accepted until that time, and put it on his legs.

Lenalee nodded, trying to suppress the triumphant flicker that threatened to light her eyes.

"Oh, my boss is a rather tall and thin youth, oriental features, long black hair gathered up..." The man interrupted her with a sharp gesture, shaking his head.

"That arrogant man is your boss? I bet that you're so scared, he's disarmingly rude." He picked up an envelope from the floor, handing it to the girl. "I decided to leave it here for a really long time, given the way in which he treated me, but if you're the one who has to lose out, miss, I can't let it happen."

Lenalee had a hard time trying not to burst into laughter; she was pretty much sure it would have taken little for the postal clerk to identify Kanda, given his not exactly _civil _manners.

She looked at the envelope out of curiosity. Noah's Ark Publisher, stood out in large letters as recipient, so that was the publishing house that Kanda had chosen this time.

"_Rather unknown," _mused Lenalee. She opened the letter skillfully, replacing the contents with his precious work: she had included all of Kanda's stories, passing them off as a collection, since the main characters seemed to be the same for each one.

"Thanks, really, you saved my life!" Exclaimed the Chinese girl, showing off a dazzling smile. "You can trash it." She added, putting the other CD in her victim's hands. The clerk kept staring at her, hypnotized.

"You're welcome, miss. If I can be of help, I'm always ready." He followed the girl with his gaze as she left, and greeted her warmly.

"You are an idiot, Victor," called out a colleague from the seat beside him "Thank goodness you don't have a wife."

Along the way back, Lenalee was almost jumping in joy. She congratulated herself extensively, her plan was perfectly successful, and she hoped to have good news soon. Now she could go to take her class with peace in her heart.

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Kanda was anxious; it seemed like an eternity had passed since he sent out the file containing the new story, and yet he didn't receive any news. He didn't know whether to interpret it as good or bad sign. Luckily, Lenalee didn't seem to notice his nervousness, so she didn't start to torment him with her irritating apprehension.

Then, one afternoon, Lenalee came home from college, her face radiant with happiness, clutching in a hand an envelope that seemed to contain documents of some sort. Kanda had just woken up, he'd been on duty that night, and as always, it had been a really bad night.

"Kanda-kun! Look, you received a letter from a publisher! It must be important!" Called the girl right after opening the apartment's door. She handed the envelope to him, and Kanda blinked in disbelief, considering if he was still sleeping. It was a cover too large and heavy to contain the usual 'We are sorry, but it's not the kind of stories we are interested in'. He gazed at Lenalee with a puzzled look. "It was the concierge who gave it to me." Explained the Chinese girl, smiling. "Come on, open it! Aren't you curious to know what in the world they could want from you?"

Kanda was too surprised to put up a resistance; he slowly opened the envelope and pulled out the contents, starting to read the letter that accompanied the sheaf of papers. No, it was impossible! They had accepted his story! And those documents were his contract!

He read the letter quickly, then he started with the contract terms, and here his brow wrinkled. He didn't understand that much about bureaucracy and legal clauses...

The Japanese man sighed. Willy-nilly he should have had to ask for Lenalee's help, which now no longer seemed so terrible a thing to him, since it wasn't about a failure anymore, and he shouldn't necessarily tell her of the previous ones.

"Well, I... I write. Stories." Kanda admitted, imagining the girl's confusion in seeing him so shaken by the letter's content. "They say... they're buying it." The youth ended his speech, swallowing hard.

"Really? It's a wonderful thing, Kanda-kun!" Lenalee said, feigning surprise. "I never would've thought you'd like writing!" She smiled at him sympathetically. "Here, give it to me, I'm reading the contract. I'll be your manager!"

_Oh no! I've created a monster... _Kanda thought, but it was too late to pull back. And now the girl would pretend to read his stories...

So Kanda Yuu signed the contract with the Noah's Ark Publisher; and his book of short stories was published; and it quickly became a best seller. And Kanda couldn't quite understand how such a thing was possible.


	2. Chapter 2: AKUMA World Library

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own D. Gray-man, all belong to Hoshino sensei... If it was otherwise... Lavi and Kanda should have been together from like FOREVER! **

**WARNING: YAOI - if you don't know what this word means, or if you don't like boy/boy relationship this story is not for you, don't say I didn't tell you! You know the song, DON'T LIKE DON'T READ!**

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As always, a big THANKS to EM1&EM2, aka Saxon-Jesus who did the beta work for me ^_^

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**This is posted for the LAVIYU DAY!**

**HAPPY LAVIYU DAY TO EVERYONE!****  
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**Chapter 2: Akuma World Library**

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Daily Press, an ordinary working day's morning of an ordinary day. Or perhaps not too ordinary, because that day the world was turning upside down, at least for the newspaper's owner, and that meant a bad day also for his employees. Especially for a certain red-haired reporter.

"Lavi!" A voice yelled from the other end of the editing, its tone quite frightened. "B-Bookman on li-line one, and it lo-lo-looks rather fu-furious..." Stammered a little man with glasses as thick as bottle bottoms.

Lavi sat up wearily from his desk, he hadn't slept at all that night to run after the 49th Precinct's detectives, and he really wasn't in the mood to hear the monthly outburst from the old panda.

Monthly? Weekly, daily... He had lost count now.

"Whaddya want now, old man..." Lavi muttered while pressing the speaker button on the phone's bottom. The scream that came in response almost made the room's walls collapse, and all the other reporters and errand boys stopped carrying out their tasks, turning towards their Head Reporter's desk location, expecting the worst to happen.

_«__Lavi! Don't sit there fiddling, idiot grandson! At times I wonder why I brought you up, and especially why I'm PAYING you!__»_ Bookman Senior shouted through the telephone's loudspeaker, and Lavi let out a sleepy moan in response. That did nothing but increase his guardian and employer's frustration. _«__Hurry up good-for-nothing, and trace the writer who published 'It's a Mistake... maybe',__»_ the man curtly ordered.

"Dunno know what is it, and..." The usual epithet with which his grandfather loved to address him cut off his statement.

_«_It's a book, you idiot!_» _Bookman Senior growled, irritated by his acquired grandson's carelessness. _«_Find the author, a certain Kanda Yuu._»_

"Why are ya lookin' for 'im? Ya've never cared 'bout four penny writers..." A light bulb had turned on in Lavi's head, catching the slight shade of resentment in his adoptive grandfather's voice, and now the young man was listening with renewed interest. Why was his old man holding it against the writer? This thing was going to become very interesting, oh, yes!

_«__Don't discuss my orders!__»_ Bookman Senior shouted, increasingly impatient. _«__Just find him, and discover what was so special about his book for it to become a best seller in just little more than a month!__»_

"Tell the truth, decrepit old man, it's gnawing at ya 'cause you'd refused it! It's 'cause o' that, right?" The sudden silence at the other end of the phone line confirmed that he had hit the mark, and Lavi smirked, satisfied, wondering why someone his old man had panned could have managed to obtain such a great success so quickly with another publisher.

_«__I don't intend to discuss my reasons with you. Go and find him quickly!__»_ Bookman senior repeated again.

"Wait, he published with the Noah's Ark, I've guessed right, haven' I?" Silence again. Lavi chuckled to himself; he knew it! He would have bet on it, it couldn't be anything else but that one, the reason for such a strong irritation. "M'kay, then it'll be fun. I'll be glued to his ass in a sec, I'll let y'know 'bout it soon. Don't make your bile explode, old panda!"

_«__Lavi! Be respectful for once, or I will go over there to kick you and stick in that empty head of yours some common sense!__»_ Lavi laughed heartily at those words, which angered his mentor even more. _«__Idiot, be serious for five consecutive minutes and pay attention! The Noah's Ark announced a meeting with the author of said book at their top library, 'Akuma World', in which he will sign_ _**autographs**_._»_ Bookman Senior pronounced that last word as if he was spitting something indigestible, and Lavi could not hold back another chuckle. _«__It's set for this afternoon, don't fail to be there and give him the third degree.__»_

"Roger, boss! 'M flyin' there!" And even before hearing the old Bookman's answer, Lavi hung up. The redhead grabbed his jacket and crossed at a run the editing tables under the surprised (and still shaken) looks of his colleagues and employees. "Hey, albino!" Lavi called out as he passed one of the errand boys, slipping a hand into the bag that said boy held into his chest and appropriating of one of his donuts. "Get my camera equipment and follow me."

"Hey! My name is Allen! Try to remember it!" Protested the youth in a perfect English, which clearly identified him as British.

"Oh, are we a lil' touchy, English boy?" Lavi teased the youth, giving him a finger tap on the forehead. "Move!"

"As if that other guy wasn't enough to saddle me with fanciful nicknames..." Muttered the boy who had just identified himself as Allen.

"Hark at 'im! So 'm not the first?" Lavi said, chewing the stolen donut, and leaning towards the English boy to pester him with another finger tap (on the nose this time).

"No. And you should really meet him, you two deserve each other." Allen said sarcastically."Both playing with words.

Lavi indulged in a loud laugh. If there was such a person, he absolutely wanted to meet him!

"Consider yerself bound by that promise!" Exclaimed the redheaded reporter. "Mission completed, I'll expect ya introducin' me to this guy!"

"Count on it. I can't wait for this." Allen secretly rejoiced within himself, because he was sure as Hell that Lavi would torment Kanda endlessly if he let the two of them meet.

And he meant to do it. Yes, even if Lenalee wouldn't be happy about it.

"And now, let's go huntin' for this Kanda Yuu!" Lavi said, throwing the jacket on one of his shoulders and preceding the young assistant, not noticing his incredulous expression nor the dull thud of the grocery bag impacting on the floor.

Lavi had just said that they were going to look for Kanda? The same Kanda he knew? A writer? No, it was impossible that someone like Kanda was able to write even two lines having a complete meaning one after the other...

Certainly it has to be a homonym, as much as it might seem bizarre. At least Allen hoped so; he had no desire to face the young Japanese, especially if the man was now a successful writer while he was a poor errand boy. He sighed, reluctantly following Lavi.

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Lenalee was very worried. Terribly worried. Mortally worried. Things had gotten out of hand, and now she didn't know how to tell Kanda about her 'minor adjustments' to the novels...

Because at this rate he would discover it very soon. The short stories collection had been too successful, sooner or later someone would ask about the motivations behind the plot, the character's background, the details of their relationship...

That was the thing that most frightened Lenalee. Kanda would certainly kill her upon discovering that she had put together his two protagonists. And an autograph session with the fans was not encouraging, someone would ask, she was sure of that.

The Chinese girl sighed. She would have to face her fate with courage, she told to herself while accompanying Kanda to the table where the fans were waiting for him... or, to be more exact, the fangirls, because they were all women.

Kanda sat down between the piles of copies of his book, feeling uncomfortable, trying not to look tense or irritated by the crowd. He didn't understand why the book's buyers were only women, since his stories were structured solely as action events.

And the compliments with which they addressed him, blushing, left him dumbfounded. 'I was almost crying', or, 'The two main characters are perfect together', and, 'I didn't think a fascinating young man like you could write something so transgressive'...

Transgressive. What the hell she was meaning by that? What the fuck did it mean? And Lenalee behind him, who thanked each girl and encouraged him to sign the book and move on, her face flushed as if she was embarrassed about something.

When the last fan had left, both the youths breathed a sigh of relief, looking at each other: it had been really tiring.

_But I'm still alive,_ thought Lenalee. For now.

Then she saw something in the distance she had wished would not ever happen.

"Hello!" Exclaimed a youth who seemed to have red hair entering the library, and behind him... behind him... What the heck was Allen doing here?

Lenalee panicked, she knew that Allen had a loose tongue, and would make jokes even completely ignoring the plot of the book. But when she noticed the bag Allen had on his shoulder she immediately understood: the other young man had to to be a journalist if her fiancé was carrying the camera equipment!

And this was really bad, really really bad... An interview would have been the last straw, totally, with Allen standing right beside them in addition! Lenalee saw herself already sliced by Mugen, and an icy shiver ran through her body as she watched the two newcomers approaching their desk.

The young redhead turned in their direction, identifying at first sight who should be the writer... And then Allen saw them, nearly falling on the ground by surprise after recognizing Kanda as the author they was looking for, but above all, for finding Lenalee at his side.

"So this lovely lady is the author we're seeking!" Lavi flashed one of his dazzling smiles, trying to impress the one he believed to be a shy girl, and he even put a hand on the table leaning toward the Japanese man, pretending to put on the sexy pose of a heartbreaker.

Allen blanched at that statement, and Lenalee gasped, such behavior with Kanda meant death, preferably slow and painful.

"Care to repeat that?" Kanda growled, suddenly getting up and grabbing the youth by the collar, almost lifting his weight completely off the ground. The wool hat Lavi was wearing pulled down over his head fell on the floor, revealing in all their glory the flaming red hair and the eyepatch on the youth's right eye, almost completely covered by a red lock before his hat would fell.

" 'M s-sorry... your hair... I was misled..." Lavi stammered, half suffocated. "I didn't mean t'offend ya, on my word!"

Lenalee formed a silent 'O', and lifted a hand to cover her mouth, only then realizing the extent of the trouble in which she had plunged herself into. How could he exist? Yet the young man was alive and kicking in front of her eyes! Kanda also appeared shocked from seeing Lavi's rebel red hair. He too seemed to have recognized the reporter in some way, although for different reasons from the girl's ones.

"You again!" The Japanese man said, identifying in the youth the reporter who constantly pursued him during the investigation on his cases, and this clarified one of the questions Lenalee was silently asking herself, when Kanda added in a very upset tone. "It wasn't enough during my work on crime scenes, now you're following me even here!"

Allen pressed himself against the girl, terrified by the fate that his workmate was about to suffer, while Lenalee was wondering if it was the case or not to intervene and separate them, before the red haired youth had the worst.

Why on earth Kanda took inspiration from someone he didn't even know, and whom, moreover, he couldn't bear, to create one of the protagonists for his stories was a mystery. And she had them... Oh, heavens! What a mess!

Meanwhile, Lavi also recognized Kanda, helped by his grievances, and he definitely couldn't understand how this violent and antisocial individual could have actually written something as good as to be published...

My goodness, just be realistic, a cop! Okay, a detective, but at the police academy they didn't teach you how to write, that was for sure!

"Ah! The 49th Precinct's detective who treated me like dirt last night!" Lavi concluded, indicating the writer's face, who's owner still clutched dangerously at his collar, threatening to suffocate him.

_"Che," _he received in response from Kanda, who suddenly dropped the poor redhead, nearly causing him to fall down on his back.

"And last week. And even the one b'fore that." Lavi rearranged his shirt and jacket. "Looks like we've fated to meet, ya and me, yer always in my way. 49 should be my number..." He got back another '_Che'_, a contemptuous exclamation the Japanese man let himself blurt out often as it seemed, and which to Lavi appeared so appropriate for a cold guy like the young detective; and that made the man even more interesting to him.

"Idiot." Kanda labeled him unceremoniously. Could it be possible he was surrounded only by morons?

Allen could not help but burst out laughing loudly, under Lavi's astonished gaze.

"The fuck are you laughing, moyashi? A single nuisance wasn't enough, you had to draw after a mate too!" Kanda turned towards Lenalee, his face tense in the effort to remain calm. "Why did you tell him where we were?"

"I haven't said anything to Allen, Kanda-kun..." The Chinese girl defended herself, now resigned to the worst.

Lavi tried to hide the laughter that escaped from his lips at the nickname the Japanese man had buckled to Allen. For what he knew of Kanda's native tongue it was a really good choice. Allen gave the redhead a withering glare, flinging open arms between Lenalee and Kanda.

"Leave her alone, you'll make her cry!" He accused the dark-haired youth, who shrugged at him carelessly. "And my name is Allen! Allen! Got it?"

"Whatever." Kanda dismissed him abruptly, his voice cold and sharp. "The Hell you want? I have no time to lose with two morons like you."

"Oh, yer so mean, Yuu! We just wanna do our wor..." Lavi couldn't finish his sentence that he found in an instant himself attached to the nearest wall.

"What did you say?" Kanda hissed as if the mere sound of that question could kill his helpless victim.

"Hey! W-What's wrong with ya? I only said we need t'do our work..." Lavi groaned in shock as he ended stuck to the wall with such a speed and violence.

"_Che_. Not that, you moron, the name. DO. NOT. EVER. USE. MY. NAME." Kanda spelled out slowly and with clear voice to make sure that the whole concept would penetrate the screw loose brain of the redhead idiot.

"But, Yuu..." Immediately objected said idiot, but feeling the grip around his neck tightening like a steel vice persuaded him to give up (for now) on whatever kind of protest he was going to utter. "Okay, okay, message received. Now let go..." Lavi breathed out, close to suffocation, and he was immensely grateful when Kanda did it. "I just want an interview with ya." The redhead said hoarsely, rubbing his neck. "Lavi," he added, holding out his hand for the Japanese man to shake.

"No way." Kanda replied contemptuously, ignoring the journalist's introduction.

"What's up, are you afraid to admit you wrote an obsce..." Lenalee's hand quickly covered Allen's mouth, forcing him to look at her face. The girl shook her head, motioning not to say anything, and it seemed... Oh God, no... This meant that...

"Come on moyashi, finish the sentence." Kanda ordered him in a threatening way, ready to fight again.

"L-Lenalee, don't tell me that you had... you had..." Allen saw she was giving him the look 'we'll calmly talk about it later, now shut up', and he knew he was right. Lenalee had something to do with Kanda's book.

"Well?" The Japanese man's tone had become impatient and he was about to snap again, when Allen gave him an answer he didn't expect.

"We just want to ask you some question about your book Kanda, be reasonable, we only need to write a review, that's all." The English boy hoped that Kanda for once would give way to the blandishments of fame.

"No." Was instead the Japanese man's categorical reply. "Invent it; you journalists are so good at these things." And with that sarcastic statement he turned his back to them, intending to leave the library. "Lenalee, tonight I'm on duty. I'll be home late." He said before walking out.

"Damn, what a temper!" Lavi said as soon as the writer was out of earshot. "You're his girlfriend?" He then asked to Lenalee.

"God forbid!" Allen blurted out, about to choke with his donuts (which he had promptly withdrawn out again right after Kanda had left) hearing Lavi's question. "She's _my_ girlfriend." He stated firmly.

Lavi put on a more than surprised look. The albino midget had a girlfriend so pretty and smart? Incredible. Some people had bad tastes, really.

But it was a true luck that the both of them knew Kanda so well, he would have the two youths telling him all about the writer, to understand the Japanese man better and find a way to break through his defenses.

Meanwhile, Lavi knew that the girl lived with Kanda, even if she was engaged to the albino, if you believed what the boy had just said.

"Yuu was really rude, he should have seen you home..." Lavi held out his hand, waiting for the girl to shake it and officially introduce herself.

"Lenalee Lee. Pleased to meet you." She shook hands with the reporter not without a hint of discomfort, thinking about the trouble in which she had gotten herself into. "If you value your safety don't ever call Kanda by his first name." She immediately warned the reporter.

"My name's Lavi, just call me that." The young redhead simply said, ignoring Lenalee's advice and smiling kindly to her. "Are we goin' moyashi? Let's take our pretty young lady home."

"Hey! What does this mean? You're not going to start calling me with that horrible nickname too now, are you?" Hearing Lavi chuckling in amusement, Allen complained disconsolately. "What harm have I done...

"Come on, don't quarrel." Lenalee rebuked them with a stern look on her beautiful face. "And if you see me home I'll be more than happy."

Perfect! _Everything as expected,_ thought Lavi. _This way I'll know where he lives... Tomorrow I'm going to give him a good morning!_

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The first thing the director of the Noah's Ark Publishing saw that morning was the familiar face of one of the most persistent nuisances she had ever known in her whole life: her favourite collaborator's brother, a new-age orientalizing charlatan with an absurd appearance: half a turban on his head, short unkempt hair of a whitish color, Arab-style clothing and three disturbing eyes tattooed on his forehead. The man smiled in a dull way, greeting her by waving his open hand.

"Wisely." She addressed him icily, honey blond hair tied back in a low ponytail, moving aside a strand of fringe from her 'Lennon' style sunglasses she wore constantly. "Just because your sister works for the Earl, doesn't mean that you're welcome here."

"Aww, Lulu dear, you're always so friendly!" The man said, leaning with both hands on the desk. "You know that if I come to see you it is always because I had an important revelation, and I want to share it." Wisely winked an eye at the woman, widening his smile.

"To you it's Lulubell, idiot. Now stop it with your 'Mr. I know it all' look and disappear from my sight." The woman snorted, clearly irritated by the unwanted intrusion which had interrupted her work.

"Don't you want to see what I brought for you?" Wisely fumbled with his clothes, extracting from his short 'Arabian Nights' style jacket an envelope and putting its contents on the woman's desk in plain sight. Lulubell's eyes widened as she saw the photograph.

"Bookman Junior?" She exclaimed dumbfounded, immediately recognizing the place where the picture was taken, and especially the person depicted beside the young Bookman.

"Correct. Aren't you dying to know why he was there?" The bizarre individual asked in a persuasive tone, leaning more towards the woman.

"I perfectly know why, you idiot!" She snapped, hitting the photo with her fist. "Damned Bookman..." Lulubell murmured, more to herself than to her current conversation partner, who continued to stare at her with that dull look on his face that made you ask 'is he really like that or is he just acting?', which strongly got on Lulubell's nerves. "You've made your boasting, now go back to reading the future in your hack-fortuneteller's study." She dismissed Wisely with a stiff gesture of her hand, continuing to study the photo with a worried look.

"Not even a thank you, Lulu?" Wisely complained in a hurt tone.

"Shoo!" Lulubell ordered, pointing at the door, still open since the man had barged into her study.

"Oh, you're so mean!" Wisely whined, flaunting a fake outraged expression. "But tell the Earl you got the news thanks to me. Maybe he'll employ me..."

Lulubell shuddered at the thought.

"Get out!"

The second after the one in which the door closed behind the pseudo-guru, Lulubell clung to the phone, calling the indicted Library.

"Sheryl? I have in front of me a picture of our miracle writer together with the Bookman scion, what can you tell me about it?" The woman hissed in a threatening tone. The man on the other end of the phone apologized repeatedly.

_«Oh, Lulu, darling... I'm mortified, I couldn't help it. The Bookman brat stumbled in here by surprise during our meeting with the month's author, in the middle of the autograph session, and I certainly couldn't throw him out.»_

"How come I wasn't informed?" Lulubell asked in an inquisitorial tone as she was now told of that fact, longing to have Sheryl right in front of her for kicking him as he deserved.

_«Well... I didn't think it was so important, after all that Kanda almost punched the Junior Bookman, so there's no risk...»_

"I'm the one to decide what's important and what's not, blockhead! That must not happen again, alright?" And on the further apologies from the man, she hung up the phone.

Now Lulubell only hoped that the Earl should never come to know about it, and immediately took the necessary precautions requested by the situation.

She dialed another number, and waited.


	3. Chapter 3: Burglary

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own D. Gray-man, UNFORTUNATELY all is into the hands of that crazy woman whose name is hoshino... Because if it was otherwise... D. Gray-man manga wouldn't have become a shapeless and disgusting jumble of nonsenses, and Lavi would have been together with Kanda from a VERY LONG TIME!**

**WARNING: YAOI - if you don't know what this word means, or if you don't like boy/boy relationship this story is not for you, don't say I didn't tell you! You know the song, DON'T LIKE DON'T READ!**

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Yeah, sorry for the long wait. From now on hopefully my updates should be more regular.

Now, something about this story.

Seeing that some readers can't explain why Kanda didn't bother to read his story after it become a book, well...  
Would you check again something no one questioned? It's a really big waste of time. And Kanda, being Kanda, hates wasting his time, deeply. Especially by reading again something he nearly know word by word (yeah, okay, he _thought_ he _knew_ XD) just because now it has a wonderful book shape. No way.

Allen just guessed that Lenalee had to do with the reason behind the book being published (and he's scared to know more about it), but he didn't read it nor knows what kind of 'help' Lenalee gave Kanda. Right now Lavi is as oblivious as Allen.

Be patient, all pieces will come into place as the story goes further XD

Err... About BRONX. You surely figured out I've never been in NY, just learned what telefilms such as "Law and Order" showed. So yeah it's totally cliche, since I really don't know nowadays what the most dangerous place in NY is... So, you can assume Bronx as an "insert the most dangerous NY place here" XDDD

As always, a big THANKS to EM1&EM2, aka Saxon-Jesus who did the beta work for me, being so patient and helpful!

I love you!

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And... If you spot any error is my fault for changing something the beta suggested XD ...Or for not noticing the correction... (yeah, a couple of times it happened u_u)

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**CHAPTER 3: **_**Burglary**_

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Lenalee was going out the apartment practically as Kanda came back, tired and irritated. The young man didn't ever liked night shifts much, and he could not wait until it was time for bed.

_Well, at least he wouldn't get into trouble for a while_, Lenalee said to herself, closing the door behind her.

A few hours later, Lavi was approaching the block where his ghost writer lived, determined to obtain that interview his old man ordered him to get.

The albino boy who recently started to work for him had provided him all the necessary information, so the young reporter prepared himself to play his favorite part: the seducer. With that, he had never failed.

Apart from the day before with Yuu, of course... But that didn't matter; Yuu was a man after all.

He walked through the huge door, immediately finding himself in front of a big woman showing a unsociable air; definitely grim, Lavi corrected himself, addressing her with a smile among the best of his repertoire.

"Hello, Miss," he began, and the woman immediately looked at him in a completely different manner. "I was searching for someone who should live here. A certain Kanda Yuu." Hearing the name of her most detestable tenant, the concierge's eyes bulged out.

"And due to what kind of misfortune are you seeking that venomous snake?" She asked in an acid tone, raising an eyebrow. "You're not a lawyer, are you?" Lavi laughed, shaking his head.

"No, no, God forbid. I'm a journalist; I'm lookin' for him to obtain an interview." The woman snorted, not at all surprised.

"What has he done this time?" Oh, how much she wanted to throw the horrible man out, but unfortunately now he was paying the rent regularly.

"Is he really so terrible?" Lavi ran a hand through his hair, giving the woman his best innocent expression, then leaned on his elbows to the little windowsill, pretending to be thoughtful, absent-mindedly looking beyond the porter's lodge opening. "Still, lookin' at him doesn't seem like it, but, 'course, if it's a smart and pretty woman like yerself the one who's sayin' it, I'll beware," the redhead said in a soothing tone. The woman was about to smile, flattered by the compliment. "Sure enough he was very rude t'me, refusin' an appointment. Bet that even with you he wouldn't bother to ever tell ya how good y'look with the hairstyle ya've got today, or the dress yer wearin'."

"Ah, that guy has no heart or respect; he's a real animal. Vulgar and bad." The concierge nodded several times to give emphasis to her point of view and sighed. "I don't know what you can drag out of him, sir; I think it's a waste of time, but if you really care I'll accompany you to his apartment."

Bingo.  
"Oh, many thanks, yer an angel!" The woman almost blushed while making way toward the elevator. "Y'know, if I fail t'send this article as soon as possible I'll be in trouble." Lavi made a little pause, watching the woman's reaction, then continued. "Ah, don't talk t'me in so formal a way, it's embarrassin'. My name's Lavi." The concierge truly smiled this time.

"Then Lavi it is." She held out her hand. "Victoria."

"My pleasure." Lavi said, shaking hands cordially. The woman called the elevator, making a nod to indicate the main door entrance.

"His girlfriend went out early this morning, so you'll find him alone. Ah, that girl is a saint to bear him, really." Arrived to the sixth floor the woman leaned out from the elevator and pointed her finger to a door. "It's there. Good luck, my boy." Lavi waved and thanked her again with his best smile on his face.

_"Well, here's to us, Kanda Yuu!"_ Lavi exclaimed to himself with determination, ringing the bell.

No sound came out, so the young Bookman pressed it again, with exactly the same result.

_Smart, Yuu, very smart, but it's not enough to stop me, _he thought, realizing that the Japanese man should have disconnected it to prevent being disturbed during his sleep, as he often worked at night.

Well, he could only knock then, and if he got nothing in that way either he would have to call him by voice, and if...

Okay, actually he didn't have many other alternatives if Kanda didn't respond by then either, apart from sitting on the floor and patiently waiting for the man to come out of his own will. And the latter was not much of a tempting prospect.

Lavi scratched his head, puzzled about his brilliant plan, then took a deep breath, closed his fist, raised his arm above his head, took momentum... and stopped an inch from the door. He swallowed hard; no, he wasn't scared about Yuu's reaction, he wasn't scared, he wasn't... OK, he was _really_ scared. But he was more scared by his old man, so Lavi repeated the whole preparation, and finally landed the blow. A bit sluggish to say the truth, but in the second one he put a bit more of effort, and after the third knock he stopped to listen. But nothing happened, not even an annoyed answer, an insult, nothing. Complete silence.

Trying to convince himself that perhaps Yuu hadn't heard knocking, the redhead hit on the door again, several times and with adequate strength, after which he waited. Still silence.

"Yuu?" The youth finally called after five full minutes of waiting. "Yuu, please answer, I'm Lavi. The reporter ya met yesterday. The one you slammed into the wall!" Nothing. "I know yer at home, if ya don't answer me I'll sit down here waitin' for ya t'come out!" Absolute silence.

Lavi repeated his chant two more times, then he sat on the corridor's floor, beside Kanda's apartment door, pondering on what to do. After ten minutes he was already tired of both waiting and sitting, twiddling his thumbs, but above all he was tired of staying _silent_.

Heck, he needed to hear the sound of his voice, otherwise he had the feeling of not being real. Yes, maybe he was paranoid, so what? Everyone has his own little quirks after all, right?

There must have been a way to budge that Kanda! _"Think, MacGyver, think!"_ Lavi said to himself, feverishly rummaging into his pockets and spilling the contents on the floor. He watched his equipment: Swiss knife, paper handkerchiefs, two gums, notebook and pencil, a button (and where this one come from? Ah, yes, it broke off from his jacket the week before), his newspaper pass, a paper clip, two rubber bands...

Hey, wait a minute, had he seen a paper clip? And the newspaper pass, too, yes. He could try to open the door by himself, if he had shaped the paper clip properly. _"Come on Mac, get to work!"_ Lavi rejoiced, beginning to tinker with the poor metal object.

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Kanda was wrecked, really, seriously, wrecked. Although, greeting Lenalee while she went out and he was coming in, he had stubbornly pretended nothing happened.

There was been a sex related murder in a High-Priced call girls' flat, and a politician was involved, so they had spent the whole damn night asking kind and polite questions to the politician, and then the routine ones to the neighborhood; of course, after hearing the Medical Examiner's first impressions... Kanda needed a few hours of sleep, because in the afternoon they were resuming the dig into the murdered prostitute's life, and of course into the one of that good man, the politician.

Kanda stretched, yawned with resignation, threw his clothes on the floor and let himself fall down on the bed. No, wait, this time was necessary to take a precaution that would guarantee him those few hours of rest: he opened the nightstand drawer and pulled out two earplugs.

Oh, finally. What peace.

When he felt his phone vibrate under the pillow, Kanda slowly opened his eyes, annoyed. Damn, it was time to get up already? He opened the phone to turn off the fucking alarm clock, and saw the time set: half past ten? What the hell... He cursed against his carelessness; he had pressed a zero instead of a fucking two, shitty keyboard! Only three miserable hours of sleep, fuck!

_"Bloody hard luck!"_ He muttered angrily to himself, removing the plugs from his ears with rage and hurling them onto the bed.

He was stretching an arm towards his discarded clothes still lying on the floor, as he thought he heard a ticking sound. Kanda immediately stopped moving, straining his every sense to understand what it was and where it came from, now fully awake and on the alert. The annoying 'click' was soon to be repeated, accompanied by groans and sounds absolutely unmistakable for one who did his job: someone was forcing the door.

Kanda grabbed Mugen. Yes, his gun was on the floor in front of him, but the sword was on the bed from the night before since he had finished polishing it, so he took it automatically, and stealthily reached for the door, leaning his ear over it, trying to understand in what position the intruder was.

The movements of his prey told him it was crouched at the lock's height, and Kanda let a feral grin appear on his face as he suddenly flung the door open with violence.

Lavi found himself falling flat on his back, staring at Mugen's blade pointed against his throat, paralyzed and in shock.

Kanda's expression though wasn't any different, having him recognized as the robber the young redhead who pursued him at work, and now at home, too.

"What are you, a voyeur or a thief?" He hissed coldly.

"A journalist?" Lavi retorted, raising his hands in a surrender gesture.

"_Che_. Now get the fuck out of here before I gut you." Kanda enjoined, his eyes become black slits sending bolts of lightning.

"Yuu, be reasonable, I only wa–" Mugen nearly excised his ear, and a lock of red hair fell on his shoulder, finishing on the floor right after. "Yuu! Are you crazy?" Lavi shouted moving backward on all fours, Mugen now pointed at his heart. "I swear, I didn't want t'call yer name; I let it slip!"

The expression of pure terror in the young journalist's eye gave Kanda a deep satisfaction, and with a contemptuous sound he sheathed Mugen, going back in the doorway.

"Twice? Get lost." He ordered, slamming the door behind him and leaving Lavi still sitting on the floor with spread legs, his one eye exaggeratedly wide in shock and from the scare he got.

_"What a terrible place New York is..._" Bookman Junior mused, _"It's full o'crazy people..._"

"I'm goin' to interview ya, cost what it may, do ya hear me?" He shouted right after in a defiant way through the closed door. "Even if I were t'wait in front o'here the whole damn day!" The redhead stood up, shaking his crumpled clothes.

Kanda rolled his eyes, extremely irritated by the tone of the youth. The darn reporter was very capable of doing that; he knew it too well, given how stubbornly the idiot followed him during his investigations. He sighed, reopening the door with a furious look on his face.

"I won't let you or anyone else interview me, and I have no time to waste with an idiot like you! Resign yourself and get your fucking ass away from me!" Kanda roared, and the door was slammed again in Lavi's face.

The redhead pouted and sat down on the floor, patiently waiting; he didn't intend to let that bastard have it all his own way, he would follow him down to hell if it was necessary, but he would force him to yield, upon the word of Bookman Junior!

He folded his arms onto his chest; the madman with the sword had to come out of there sooner or later.

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Kanda was astounded. Finding that irritating hack crouched in the hallway of his fucking palace in an attempt to sneak into his fucking apartment forcing his very door open. Really, that beat everything! He didn't believe he had become that famous to have the press already camping out in front of his bloody house...

The Japanese detective slipped under the shower; he really needed one, especially to cool down his anger.

After he dried and dressed himself up again, he had lunch with what Lenalee had prepared for him - that girl really knew how to handle soba - and picked up his discarded clothes from the floor.

That done, Kanda wore his ordinance gun and the related paraphernalia, made sure to have the police badge in his jacket pocket and prepared himself to leave. But first he wanted to make sure of one thing.

"Are you still out there?" Kanda asked in a loud voice as he turned the lights off and approached the apartment's entrance.

A howl of assent told him that the worthless journalist was still sitting in front of his door.

Kanda opened it with a rudeness, finding himself staring at the sullen face of the young redhead, whose one eye was staring at him, resentful for the treatment he got; the Japanese detective couldn't help but wonder how the man had lost the other one, given his age. He promptly drove that thought away, slamming the door behind his back and making his way along the corridor, without deigning the journalist any further attention.

"Hey!" Lavi quickly sprung to his feet, following his target up to the elevator and slipping inside it with him, despite Kanda having tried to close the door in his face - or even _onto_ his body, for that matter - and had almost succeeded in the attempt.

"You're not thinking of following me the whole damn day, are you?" Kanda asked in a threatening tone, turning a sharp look at his persecutor. The other man nodded repeatedly, seriously. At this, Kanda let out one of his _'Che's_. "Look, you know what job I do, if you insist staying in my way you'll get hurt," he blurted out; in fact, he meant to say '_I will_ hurt you', but he hoped that the idiot took the hint by himself. Said idiot instead folded his arms to his chest with a resolute expression. "All right, whatever. But then don't say I didn't warn you." Kanda rebuked him, emerging from the elevator.

"I can take care o'myself, Yuu-chan." The reporter pointed out in a hurt tone.

Kanda spun around, hearing the nickname, waving his fist at the young man, his jaw tightened in anger.

"That, too, slipped out?" He hissed through clenched teeth, giving the redhead a look so grim that it could easily have pierced the poor thing like a sword.

"No. It was voluntary; I find that it suits ya." Lavi admitted, showing a mischievous smile that reached from one ear to another.

"Oh!" Kanda rolled his eyes, spreading his arms and turning his back to the intruder, resuming his walk to the porter's lodge. That idiot was a hopeless case, to make him stop using his first name he would have had to kill him, and it wasn't impossible that it couldn't happen soon if the fucking reporter kept this rate.

Lavi trotted behind him, a satisfied grin on his face, and once arriving at the entrance he was greeted warmly by the concierge.

"Hey, Lavi! Congratulations! I see that you succeeded in convincing that asocial to come out of his shell, and it takes a lot." The woman said, and nodded toward the youth with admiration. "I hope to see you again one of these days!"

"Shut up, witch!" Kanda addressed her, annoyed, darting toward the door. "The idiot here didn't do a damn thing. I had to go out and he latched onto me like a tick!" The woman turned a gesture towards Lavi, who almost chocked in an attempt to keep from laughing.

"You bet, Vicky, you'll see me here often! Bye-Bye!"

The concierge let out an embarrassed chuckle, covering her mouth with a fat hand, and Bookman Junior hurried to reach the Japanese detective, who stared at him in horror as the redhead was friendly waving at the vexing vixen standing in the lobby.

"You're disgusting." Kanda commented succinctly.

"I'm a journalist, y'know, I just know how to handle people, that's all." Lavi defended himself with a shrug.

"Lead them by the nose, you mean." Kanda pointed out, acid, refusing to consider the possibility of being friendly himself with that harpy of the concierge.

"C'mon Yuu, she's a good woman, ya just need t'know how t'deal with her." Lavi hoped from this exchange of views on being able to raise a subject for conversation, and get at least a little familiar with the policeman-writer.

"_Che,_" was the only sound the Japanese man gave as an answer, and Bookman Junior sighed, shaking his head, thinking about what else he could try to win the confidence of the other man.

Kanda instead was thinking of how to get rid of the annoying redhead, both at the moment and for the future. Maybe he should get a Doberman, he considered, a pity that animals weren't allowed in the building. _Dammit_.

As they entered the subway, Kanda contemplated the possibility of pushing the reporter under a train and then claiming it was the job of a madman... No, it wouldn't work. Kanda sighed as well, getting on board in the first car he found in front of himself, always tailed by Lavi, who looked around with curious interest, as if he had never been on the subway in his whole life.

"Hey, idiot." he addressed his bother at one point. "At the Police Precinct journalists are not welcome; you'd better leave it alone."

"Lavi." Said journalist protested, pointing at his chest. "And I'll run the risk."

Kanda snorted. Stubborn as a mule, darn him. Lavi, what a name. He would read it as 'Rabi' which dangerously resembled to 'rabbit'. An idiot rabbit. The detective almost smiled to himself, such a nickname really suited this intrusive guy.

"What're ya thinkin', Yuu? Yer expression softened." Lavi's question took Kanda by surprise; he hadn't even noticed when the annoying redhead had came so close to him, and he nearly jumped finding the idiot's face just a breath from himself.

"_TCH_, what part of 'do not call me by my first name' isn't clear to you? And keep the distance, crab!" he hissed, placing his hand over said idiot's face and rudely pushing him away.

"_AWW_, so cruel, Yuu!" Lavi protested, tidying his hair (as much as possible given the way it was already naturally ruffled) and rubbed his nose.

Kanda rolled his eyes; opening fire in a subway car was not a viable option, and he couldn't even beat up the moron leaving him in a pool of blood, not without attracting the attention of everybody present... He resolved to lead the reporter to a dark lane and get rid of him without witnesses, then discharging the corpse into the river, like everyone else did in New York. God, what was he thinking? That retard was driving him out of his mind!

Meanwhile, they had arrived at his stop, and Kanda took the opportunity to get down without any warning, hoping by doing so to shake off the misfortune that had stuck to him like chewing gum trodden on a day in August. But to his chagrin the idiot didn't lose sight of him for a moment as he already was next to him on the road to the Police Precinct.

"So this's the Bronx. I thought it the worst." The reporter was again looking around with interest, could it be possible that he had never been in that area? The journalist had been shadowing him close during the investigation for weeks, how could he not remember... Oh well, sure, he'd never followed him all the way up to the Police Command.

"Come for a walk here at night, alone and unarmed." Kanda invited him sarcastically.

"No thanks, think I'll keep stayin' in yer company." Lavi immediately answered. "I haven't been in New York long, I've never been in this place durin' the day."

_There, now it explains why,_ Kanda thought.

They entered the 49th Precinct's building side by side, the Japanese detective almost with smoke coming out from his ears, Lavi with both hands in his pockets and smiling at everyone, watching everywhere out of curiosity, paying attention to every tiny detail or event which took place around him.

As they approached Kanda's section, their passage was followed by a crescendo of whispers and muffled exclamations of surprise, which did ring an alarm bell in the pissed detective's head, even though he didn't understand the reason behind them. If all those murmurs were or were not linked to Lavi, it disturbed him a lot, because they seemed turned right to him.

"Yuu, where're we goin'?" The reporter asked at one point, and a woman next to them let slip a stack of documents scattering them disastrously onto the floor. Kanda turned around, grabbing Lavi's jacket in a single, quick, fluid movement, and the rest of the questions died in the redhead's throat.

"Stop following me! And above all, to get all this confidence!" The Japanese man exploded, attracting even more attention on them.

"I only asked a question!" Lavi moaned piteously. " L-let go of me, I'm choking..."

"Yuu-kun!" A stern voice addressed him from one of the offices. "You don't want to cause another incident with the press, right? Be a good boy, my son, put down the journalist, would you?" A vein throbbed on Kanda's forehead at the word 'my son', more than for the usual nickname with which his stepfather addressed him with, but he couldn't say anything to his captain, so he bit the bullet as he always did.

Just Tiedoll! That was all he needed! And how the hell did the man know about... Only then Kanda noticed the card 'Press' that Lavi had pinned prominently on his chest. The bastard was very clever, he had to acknowledge this, and sure as Hell Lavi had put it up on himself, in plain view, as they were coming inside! He released his victim and stood aside, shooting a murderous look at all those present, challenging them to comment on any of the things they had just heard.

"Lavi Bookman." Meanwhile, the idiot didn't waste time and immediately introduced himself to Captain Tiedoll, explaining the reason for his presence there. _Damn_, Kanda mentally cursed, with his captivating manner he was able to put him in the wrong!

"Oh, so you want to interview my dear son? Sure, sure, go ahead, everyone here will be happy to answer your questions!" Tiedoll was saying, under the astonished gaze of everybody present, and in particular, Kanda, who already was picturing a third degree on how the captain was bound to him in daily life.

With an annoyed exclamation, Kanda turned on his heels and walked to his desk, followed by Lavi and the looks of everybody in the room, something that irritated him beyond his endurance limit - which was really low indeed - making him want to massacre in atrocious ways each one of his so called 'colleagues'.

And the snickering continued dammit, as for the whispers, what the hell was going on there? Was it some kind of perverse game hatched against him?

Lavi also noticed gestures and whispers exchanged between the other detectives, police officers and technicians, and he was pretty sure that he and Kanda were the subjects of all that submerged murmuring. But the reason was unknown to him; he couldn't think of one plausible explanation how his presence connected with the Japanese detective could generate all that underground interest.

He was about to start asking questions to find out something concerning that mystery as Kanda's self control definitively shattered.

"What are you looking at!" He snapped making everybody start, were they sitting or standing, for the totally menacing tone of the question. "Let's see if you dare to say it in my face! So! What the fuck are you looking at?" Kanda repeated in an even more lethal tone.

"Well, we were all wondering whether or not it was a coincidence that he's identical to a character in your book..." A shy looking brunette woman came forward, solving the mystery. "Because, he also behaves similarly and..." She blushed, unable to finish her sentence.

Lavi couldn't believe his ears: Yuu had used him in his stories? But if he didn't even know him! Unless... Sure, Yuu had to have written the usual dreary, trite fourth rank's detective story basing upon his life, and he had pestered the other man enough to qualify for a part. But if it was so, why had it become a best seller? That made no sense...

"Miranda? How... So you all know about the book." Kanda muttered, stunned by the unexpected revelation.

All the present nodded, but this time no one dared to laugh, thinking that Kanda's reaction depended on the book's contents, which instead the Japanese detective actually didn't know. The brunette woman approached him with a copy of the incriminated book in her hands.

"Could I have your autograph on the book?" She timidly asked, and Kanda contented her, still in a shock over the news he just received. "I'm a big fan of yours, too, you know, I didn't think you were capable to write about these matters and, well... him... I didn't imagine you would have ever brought him here, given the relationship between you two." Miranda's statement made giggles and grins show up again. "We didn't believe you had a lover, or that you took inspiration from him."

Something snapped in Kanda's mind, whose owner was trying to process the latest information received without any success. Relationship. Lover. Book. The three words could not in any way reconnect themselves with each other and to him, no; he refused to acknowledge the implications behind it all.

Lavi was disconcerted as much as Kanda was, but concerning him there were no constraints of pride or embarrassment, so he asked the question that Kanda's mind rejected.

"Miranda, right?" when the woman nodded he smiled at her brightly. "You b'lieve that Yuu and I..." The redhead pointed at himself and then at Kanda, receiving other nods, which made the Japanese man become deathly pale. "Oh. And our relationship would be described in the book?

"Yes." Miranda opened the volume, looking for a very precise page, then showing it to Lavi, who read it avidly, gaping right after he started. This couldn't in any way be Yuu's work, he was absolutely sure. Someone else had put a good hand at the stories before sending them to the publishing house, which was why they had been accepted. And chance wanted that whoever did it chose to couple him with the book's main character, and as if he thought Yuu had used his own life as a model for writing his plots, creating an alter ego of himself as the main character... This explained everything, and also led Lavi to Kanda's alleged girlfriend.

No doubt she was the artificer, and as sure as death she had done everything without Yuu knowing it... The redhead foresaw a bad quarter of an hour for the girl, because now Yuu would understand as well, and put two and two together.

Kanda saw Lavi's eye widen in wonder, and a slight blush coloring his cheeks as the stunned reporter read through the page that Miranda showed him.

What had he written that embarrassing! Kanda snatched the book from the idiotic redhead's hands, reading himself from the page top, and he almost collapsed on the floor for the accuracy on every detail of the scene described in that chapter's passage. And he would really have fainted, if it hadn't been for Lavi holding him promptly, whispering into his ear a "control yerself, I know what happened, whatever yer thinking o'sayin' don't do it here".

"Y-you didn't remember writing it?" Miranda stammered, confused by Kanda's weird reaction. "I mean, you did write it, didn't you?

"No!" The shocked expression on Kanda's face said a lot about how the youth had lost control of himself. "I mean, yes, but it has nothing to do with me or him! They're only two characters in a story!" He protested, but it was clear from the faces of all his colleagues that they didn't believe a single word, and it was also pretty evident to him even in his altered mental status that he was making himself look ridiculous.

"What Yuu's tryin' t'say 's that between us there isn't a love affair, we were introduced to each other only yesterday. And just 'cause I asked 'im for an interview for my newspaper." Again muffled giggles could be heard all round them, and Lavi sighed. It was a lost cause, if these people wanted absolutely to believe that he and Yuu were lovers, never mind.

In the meantime, Kanda had regained control of himself, and with a sharp gesture he abruptly broke free of Lavi, almost sending him crashing into the poor Miranda, who jumped with fright.

"Get your hands off me, you idiot! It 's all your fault! If you hadn't followed me..." The Japanese man threw it on the other's face in a venomous tone, and Lavi bowed his head guiltily; he had expected it, and he couldn't even blame Yuu.

He took Kanda apart, despite his protests upon withdrawing with him.

"Yuu, me not coming here wouldn't have changed anything, y'know it." Kanda clenched his jaw, looking away from his interlocutor. "Simply, ya wouldn't have known, but they would've kept on thinkin' of us that way. Because they would've continued t'see me followin' ya during yer investigations." Kanda's eyes widened as he slowly understood that there was no way out of this trap.

"_Che_." Was the only sound he let out from his lips to show all his impotent rage. There could solely be one responsible for the distorting of his novel: Lenalee. But why? Why did she do this to him?

"I know ya didn't write that part o'the story, and I, too, can guess who it may've been as much as ya did." Kanda didn't answer or look back at him, and Lavi continued speaking, hoping that his words would somehow breach into the other youth's consciousness. "But I want ya t'promise that yer not gonna hurt her; I'm sure she hasn't done it out o'malice."

"Go the Hell away and leave me alone." Kanda finally muttered, and Bookman Junior felt a pang in his heart for the suffering tone that those words had in them. "And for your information, I don't hit women."

Well, this was comforting, even if it didn't completely reassure him about the girl's fate.

"Yuu, I won't leave you alone in this state." Lavi tried to make him look at his face but Kanda dodged with angry decision the hand that touched his face.

"Get out of my life." He repeated flatly, this time meeting Lavi's gaze, allowing the red-haired youth to read his pain, but also the deep determination that distinguished him. "And don't call me that!"

"All right." The reporter finally gave in, believing that for now it was better to respect Yuu's wishes. He would go back to Kanda's apartment later, when the detective had returned home, to make also sure that he wouldn't do anything stupid.

"How cute are they together!" Miranda exclaimed, with eyes glistening with emotion, though she (nor anyone else present) could not catch a single word of what they were saying. But everyone was anxiously waiting for something to happen.

"If ya was waitin' for a kiss, ya can even set yer souls at rest, 'cause it won't happen." Lavi rebuked them as he turned to leave. "There's nothin' between us, believe it or not!"

When the damn journalist had disappeared from view, the Japanese detective turned to his colleagues, confronting them with a hard face, trembling with indignation and anger.

"You really believed that I..." he started, but everybody in the room pretended nothing. "Ooooh!" Kanda had an outburst of rage, and shook his fists at the sky, deciding to go cool off his anger at the shooting range.


	4. Chapter 4: Convicted was the Book

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own D. Gray-man, UNFORTUNATELY all is into the hands of that crazy woman whose name is hoshino... Because if it was otherwise... D. Gray-man manga wouldn't have become a shapeless and disgusting jumble of nonsenses, and Lavi would have been together with Kanda from a VERY LONG TIME!**

**WARNING: YAOI - if you don't know what this word means, or if you don't like boy/boy relationship this story is not for you, don't say I didn't tell you! You know the song, DON'T LIKE DON'T READ!**

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Yeah, again, sorry for the long wait. But, as you can see, I'm still working on my stuffs. The other translations are in progress, too. Chapter 4 of "From Doomsday to Doomsday" is quite done, as well. Anyway, I hate this issues with FF. net, because I can't access my files to update them. I updated this story with a trick, but it's frustrating, really!

Well, let's hope the mods will fix it soon.

Enjoy the new chapter!

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As always, a big THANKS to EM1&EM2, aka Saxon-Jesus who did the beta work for me, being so patient and helpful!

I love you!

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**CHAPTER 4: Convicted was the Book**  
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In the meantime Lavi tried to call his old man, as he was on the subway on his way back to the newspaper building, hoping there was enough coverage down there so that the communication would hold for the needed time.

"Yo, Gramps! Spoke to yer writer, he's a soap bubble. 's just a poor policeman, rude and arrogant. He has no talent." He began in a cheerful voice; on the other end of the line he heard a groan. "What, wizened old mummy? Dont'cha hear me?"

_«__I hear you loud and clear, unworthy grandson!__» _ Bookman Senior roared in his usual reproachful tone. _«__If he's so lacking in talent, then tell me how it is possible that his book has topped the best-sellers lists!__»_

"Someone's helpin' 'im, that's for sure, they revised the text after ya refused his stories." Lavi informed him, trying to hire a professional tone, and failing miserably. "Not worth wastin' time on this guy."

_«__Lavi.__» _Bookman Senior rebuked him, and when he used that tone it was a sign that he didn't believe a word of what his grandson was telling him. _«Are you__ hiding something from me? You read the book, didn't you?__»_

"Err... No." Lavi admitted quite embarrassed, even if it wasn't entirely true, he'd read a page... Well, two. "Why?" He asked in an innocent tone, knowing well the answer his old panda would give about it.

_«__What are you waiting to read it, you idler! Did you know that he used you as a character?__» _Receiving no answer, Bookman Senior gave him additional orders. _«__If that really wasn't his work, which I have no difficulty in believing given the limited capacity he demonstrated, find the one who 'adapted' his stories; we must convince him to sign with us at all costs! Everything's clear?__»_

"At yer orders, Methuselah! I'll sling myself to the newspaper office, read the book, then come back pesterin' that Kanda t'find out who's helpin' him!" And over Bookman Senior's satisfied exclamation, Lavi cut off the communication.

Dammit, he just couldn't put a sweet girl, such as Lenalee was, into the old man's clutches! Although, to write things like that she couldn't be that innocent... Lavi wondered if that glutton guy of an albino could know something about it. He drove the thought away from his mind, it was too gruesome.

Entering the newspaper building, he met Allen in the hall with a fabulous T-shirt showing the flashing writing 'Mr. Donut' and the ubiquitous bag full of donuts in his hands, his mouth full of them as usual. Lavi returned with a wave the choking greeting the British boy gave him, and headed quickly to the floor in which the editing of the newspaper was.

Once arrived, he started to rummage into his desk frantically, muttering various imprecations to himself for not finding the object of his searching.

"Hey Lavi, do you need something?" A little man wearing thick rimmed glasses was staring at him with his head tilted to meet Lavi's gaze, a perplexed expression on his round face.

"Oh, Johnny, it's you. Yes, I needed that writer's book, the old man ordered me t'read it and said he sent a copy here at the newspaper's editorial office." The short man blushed violently, shuffling his feet and looking down on the floor. "You've read it, have ya? Ya all have read it except me and didn't say a word!" Lavi exclaimed, making a pouting expression.

"Y-Yes, I read it..." Johnny admitted stuttering sheepishly. "But I'm perfectly aware that you didn't know that Kanda until yesterday, so why has he imagined such a story with you?"

"Forget it Johnny. Too long t'explain. Gimme the book instead." The little man nodded, promptly obeying and then disappearing from Lavi's view.

So the entire editorial staff knew about him and Kanda, about the fantasies written in the damn book at least. If they too believed that there was some truth in them, he couldn't say for sure.

Oh, to Hell with that! He would continue to see Yuu all the same; despite everything, he liked the guy, even if he was really violent and rude. And after all, he had to get onto Lenalee for the old panda, right?

Lavi immersed himself into reading; it was indispensable to evaluate how good the girl actually was at writing.

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That night Kanda opened the door of his home with a heavy heart, a feeling that he hadn't often happened to experience or perhaps it would be more accurate to say he never had.

He felt betrayed, the person he trusted most in the world had deceived him and her actions exposed him to ridicule in front of the world. How could he justify her? And more importantly, how could he _forgive_ her? She made his book a best seller, of course, but at what price? His pride was gone to Hell along with his self-respect, and the most ridiculous thing was that people admired him for having written such a vulgarity!

To all this had to be added that all the living beings working at the 49th Police Precinct now believed that he was gay. Like the rest of the world probably did, as was really uncommon for a non-gay male writer to undertake in that kind of stories. Or at least he thought so.

Lenalee was sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for the dinner to be ready. At the sound of the closing door she turned towards the entrance, expecting to see Kanda appear any moment now. But when the young man came to the kitchen's door, it was immediately clear from the expression on his face that something was wrong.

Something very serious, because in his eyes was shining a bitter light, his features were tense and his whole being was trembling as if to keep control of himself was extremely difficult to him. As for how the girl knew him, this was an extremely serious symptom.

"What did you do, Lenalee?" The question was an accusation, uttered in an empty, heavy tone, as if its meaning was to Kanda a burden too big to bear.

"I don't understand, Kanda-kun, what do you mean?" Lenalee's eyes widened, as the fear of being discovered was taking her breath away, making her heart beat faster.

Kanda walked a few steps toward her, his gaze hard, cold as ice, but that charge was burning in the back of his eyes like scorching embers of a blazing fire.

"The book, Lenalee." Kanda simply said, shoulders downcast, the pain now clearly visible on his face, mixed with impotent rage, giving his expression something twisted, a light of madness.

"I didn't…" The girl sprang to her feet, scared by Kanda's reaction, and when he reached a hand toward her to calm her down, she screamed, running away. Lenalee's long black hair, gathered up in two high pigtails, blown after her as she rushed to her room, locking herself inside it.

Kanda had immediately moved to grab the girl, but he missed her, and after the first moment of dismay he went after Lenelee, insistently knocking to have her come out from her – _his_ – room.

"Lenalee, open the door." he ordered in a hard tone. "I want an explanation. Now."

"No!" Came the girl's agitated answer, panic clearly audible in her voice. "You're too angry..." Sitting on the bed, arms wrapped around her body, Lenalee was thinking of a justification for getting into a trouble that huge, meddling in her childhood friend's private life, who was – to make things worse – like a brother to her.

She felt as if she had stabbed Kanda in the back, yet at the time it seemed the right thing to do, to her. She couldn't have imagined these so heavy consequences…

Kanda sighed, trying to mitigate the tone of his next sentence to reassure Lenalee about his intentions.

"You know that I would never hurt you, come on, get out." In response he heard a stifled sob. "Lenalee... explain to me. I won't yell." As much as the girl's behavior had hurt him, he couldn't hate her like he did the rest of the world; he had never been able to.

"Do you promise me?" Lenalee's hopeful voice roused him from those thoughts, and Kanda nodded even if she couldn't see him doing it.

"Promise. Lenalee, please... now get out of there."

He said it. Kanda had begged her to come out, gently, a thing she had seen him do only once, when they were children and she locked herself in a dangerous place as a joke.

With hesitant steps the girl slowly walked to the door, looking for the words to apologize.

"I... I did a terrible thing; you would have every reason to slap me in the face..." Lenalee heard Kanda opposing his usual '_Che_' as a response, and a smile curled her lips. She opened the door, and he was motionless in front of there, his face pale and tense. She sustained Kanda's gaze, staring into his eyes, genuinely grieved for having dragged things to this point.

"I'm so sorry! I wanted to tell you, but when the book became that famous in a record time, I was afraid. I was scared you would get mad, just like you are right now..." Lenalee hugged him, burying her face against Kanda's chest, feeling the young man stiffening but resting his hands on her shoulders anyway with a consoling gesture. "I didn't believe he could exist... I've never imagined you knew that man and took inspiration from him.

Kanda snorted slightly, the damage was already done by now. He just wanted to understand the reason behind such a behavior. He led Lenalee to the living room, and sat with her on the couch, embarrassed about having to ask that kind of questions, but determined to know the whole truth.

"Lenalee, I don't care _how_ you did it, I just want to understand _why_." He finally asked, looking at her mortified expression; the girl bit one of her lips, thinking about how to explain.

"Don't get mad. I did it for you, because I saw how much effort you put in your writing and it wasn't getting any results... I just wanted you to be happy, so I corrected the text, but as it was it couldn't work; too flat and without verve, so I put in the relationship between the two main characters." She paused, noting Kanda's scandalized expression, and gripping the edge of her skirt nervously with her fingers. "I didn't realize that you identified yourself with one of the two, you have described him really little. I didn't want to offend you…"

Kanda shook his head in disbelief, the girl he believed to be the most innocent being ever existed under the sun was able to write a sex scene like that one, between two men no less!

"You... really... how...?" Kanda gestured blushing visibly, unable to pose the question clearly, as always when it comes to sex, and this made Lenalee smile; the girl in an instant forgot all her fears.

"Ah, Kanda-kun! I'm not a baby like everyone seems to believe. I gathered information. Google is a great help, also illustrated." At that specification the redness on Kanda's face increased, and the youth hoped that the moyashi hadn't had any part in this 'informative process'. He must be showing a quite horrified expression, because Lenalee giggled, and then, as she was reading his thoughts, dispelled his doubts. "Don't worry, Allen didn't read a single word of the book, and knowing it was written by you he doesn't even feel like it."

_"But he would read it now, because of Lavi!"_ Kanda thought, certain that the young redhead would have widely talk about it in the newspaper's editorial office. He was a journalist after all, and those people didn't keep any secrets. Never. So now his reputation had gone to the winds, with everyone, including the albino idiot.

"What need there was to be so... so... Oh, damn! You got it!" The Japanese man snapped, exasperated, terribly uncomfortable for having to talk about sex among all just with Lenalee.

"I know that for you it is absurd, but sex sells well as you've found out yourself, people can't do without it. And a transgressive relationship sells even better." Simple and disarming, as always. Lenalee's explanation was faultless, and Kanda didn't know what to respond. "You needed money, I thought that if someone bought the stories you would have had enough to settle the debts; I didn't expect such a great success, really."

Sex was a primary need, he knew it too, although he blamed that behavior in others and never ever indulged himself in it; never, for any reason in the world. He had never been interested in the subject that was why he wasn't _prepared_. Lenalee was staring at him with that little pout which he had never been able to say no, and Kanda knew by now that he would forgive her this time too, as always.  
"Am I forgiven?" Lenalee questioned; he was certain that she would ask for it, and when he nodded slowly, frowning, the girl threw herself at his neck, happy, making him almost fall off the couch.

"Lenalee, now stop." Kanda urged the girl, moving her away from him firmly. Then he took a deep breath; there was another question he had to ask her, and it needed of some psychological preparation. Kanda formulated the sentence in his mind, repeated it to himself a few times, then tried to say it all in one go while maintaining a firm voice. "So... I should continue what you started; it would be rather pointless trying to censor everything in the subsequent episodes." He said, by now resigned to the inevitable.

Receiving an affirmative nod, Kanda brought one hand to his face. He certainly wasn't able to write obscenities of that sort, he should let Lenalee work on them.

They were officially a duo of perverts who wrote porn stories. Not exactly the goal he was aiming for.

But it helped to pay the bills, so he couldn't get out of it.

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Lavi had to stop reading several times, before someone would notice that it was causing him some _physical_ problems... For God's sake, that girl had a real talent as for descriptions! It didn't happen to him for ages to let himself be involved in such a way by some well written sex scene.

Because there wasn't one chance in the world that this could be Yuu's work, now that he read the whole book he was more than certain about it. And however hard he tried not to think of it, he continued to feel his hands on Yuu's body as if he really was the protagonist of the described events. And, it had been a while since he masturbated before Playboy...

Besides, Yuu wasn't a charming maiden. OK, he was a _charming_ male detective, whom he had mistaken for a girl the first time he met him, if he really had to be honest with himself. But nevertheless, male.

Lavi noticed that the expression on his face was being examined by every living being in the editorial office, and this irritated him a lot. What kind of opinion his colleagues had formed about him? He wasn't the type to run after men, and they knew it well!

However, he had to go check that Yuu hadn't done something stupid, so he quit everything, picked up his coat and went out at full speed, without saying where he was going, but reading on the faces of his colleagues that each of them knew exactly where, as if the he had it written on his forehead. Damn. Perhaps he had to start worrying...

That night Lavi couldn't see Kanda, when he arrived at the detective's house the man had already went back to the Police Precinct he worked in; anyway, Lavi had an interesting conversation with Lenalee.

First of all, he was greatly relieved to learn that the two explained themselves, as the girl said, and still according to what she said Kanda had understood the reasons that drove her to revise the stories, and also that there was nothing wrong with continuing on that road. Very strange.

He had to talk about it with Yuu in order to hear the other side; the girl seemed to have unusual powers of persuasion. In addition, she kept an evasive attitude, as if she were playing chess with him and Yuu as pawns and didn't want him to understand. Maybe she was not as helpless as he judged her, perhaps he should have introduced her to the old man, there was always a good understanding between business-men... OK, business-men and business-women. Well, whatever.

Lenalee answered all the questions Lavi addressed her without waiting to be asked twice, telling the details of her childhood with Yuu, how they met, how she considered him as an older brother, and many other things.

Lavi learned things about Kanda that would take years for him to find out if he had tried to have Yuu tell them, and the Chinese girl put particular attention to the Japanese man's way of thinking and his reactions to people, such as the use of his first name and the difficulty to relate.

Particularly interesting was the discussion about sex. Lavi would never have expected so vast a knowledge of sexual habits and preferences of men and women from a girl looking so chaste, even going so far as to cite the statistics...

And above all, he didn't expect that Yuu considered sex a useless waste of time (actually Lavi suspected the young man to talk like that because the whole thing embarrassed him too much to deal with it), and therefore he didn't want to hear about it (again, Lavi was sure it was out of shame).

According to Lenalee, reasons had to be sought in Yuu's difficulty in letting himself go, accomplice his obsession to control his every single reaction and wanting to suppress any sign of emotion that could appear on his face. A sort of piece of ice in short, who couldn't stand physical contact and hated having to deal with people.

Apparently, listening to Lenalee, Yuu had no true friends, which was why she hoped their meeting would turn into friendship (that's the reason she had been so generous with information on how to deal with Yuu, Lavi told to himself), because Kanda needed to have someone to talk to, or spend his free time, he couldn't live only for his work.

On his way back home, Lavi was reflecting on what he had learned that evening. So Yuu's violent temper was a form of defense from the world around him, a way to cover any other emotion that he happened to feel. Yuu was really an interesting subject.

Lenalee had also said that the day after Kanda was almost completely free, maybe he should go to the Police Precinct around dinner time but it wasn't sure. A clear invitation to come back looking for him. Something that Lavi wanted to do even without the girl's encouragement, actually.

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Kanda forced himself to re-read all his stories to find out how much Lenalee had changed them, taking advantage of a moment of pause as he sat at his desk before his computer. He transferred the file he had been given from Lenalee and began his calvary, because he knew it would be terrible... And in fact in some ways it was, but not in the one way he expected it to.

Lenalee gave body to the story's intrigue, enhanced the plot, and gave life to his characters, making them so real that he felt personally involved in every event of the novel, far more than when he wrote it.

Not only that, what at first impact had seemed unacceptable to him, reading the background now it appeared so natural that he was scared by it, especially because Lenalee was damn good at describing the interactions between the two main characters, particularly in bed.

Even if he found it extremely embarrassing, imagining Lavi over him in the way evoked by the narration suggested made him feel strange, hot, and... Oh, no! Not _that_ reaction, not in front of the entire Precinct! If he had imagined that his body would react in such a way he would never read the novel in public.

He moved uncomfortably on his chair, crossing one leg carefully in an attempt to hide the bulge in _that_ point of his pants... And the more he tried to control himself, the more the pressure increased against the other leg, so that he had to try to start a short meditation to calm down.

He almost succeeded in the difficult undertaking when Miranda came to him with a prostrate look, and Kanda mentally cursed his bad luck countless times.

"K-Kanda?" the woman begun, afraid of an angry reaction. "I... I'm terribly sorry..."

"I don't know what you're talking about." The Japanese detective spat out in a flat tone, hoping the woman would give up and go back to her seat, but Miranda took courage and continue her speech.

"If I made you two fight and he left you, I..." She said, visibly upset, continuously twisting her hands.

Kanda rolled his eyes in disbelief, and reserved one of his '_Che' _to her.

"I didn't have a fight, and I'm not together with him, is it clear or not?" He then hissed, taking care to use his best harsh tone.

Miranda was about to lavish with apologies again, when a detective with an impressive appearance came in breathlessly, calling for Kanda loudly.

"It's happened again, Kanda! The killer took another victim; the Captain wants us all in his office!" The man stopped in front of the Japanese detective panting, and the news was more than enough to _cool down_ the problem that afflicted him, something which Kanda was really grateful.

After the briefing during which Tiedoll had assigned to each of them new tasks for the ongoing investigation, Miranda approached Kanda again showing a circumspect look, making him motion to step aside for a moment.

Annoyed by the woman's insistence he complied, hoping she would then leave him in peace once and for all; but instead of the nonsense he was expecting to hear, Miranda pointed his finger at a detail that he had missed, and it was a very, very serious matter.

"Kanda, I... I noticed one thing, but... well, I didn't want to say it in front of everybody, because I know it embarrasses you, and..." she started stammering; Kanda interrupted her abruptly, blood which had already risen to his eyes.

"Get to the point, dammit!" He hissed angrily, startling the poor detective, who immediately hurried to finish the sentence.

"Oh, yes, yes, I'm sorry! It's about the murders, I realized it only after this latter one, but... the serial killer is now following your book!" Miranda said in one breath. "Did you notice the position of the body? The woman's clothes? It's taken from your second novel!"

Oh, fuck, yes! Now that he thought about it, it was exactly so! That was a really big trouble. How would he explain it to the Captain?

"Uhm, maybe you're right," Kanda admitted weighing his words carefully "but it might just be a coincidence. We should wait to have more news on this felony crime before making rash assumptions." he suggested; meanwhile, it was better to take time, as long as the other detectives don't notice the analogy as well, he could try to remedy to all this mess alone…

"Ah, yes, yes. Maybe mine it's just suggestion." Miranda agreed, returning to his duties.

Kanda called to the detective with the powerful physique who was looking for him just before, and with whom the Captain had just assigned him to the investigation, impatient to reach the place where the murder had been committed.

"Let's go Marie; the Medical Examiner is waiting for us." As they were leaving the Police Precinct, Kanda hoped with all his heart that Miranda was wrong.

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That night (but perhaps it would be more exact to say that morning, considering he returned home at seven AM) Kanda had restless dreams, featuring the fucking serial killer who continued to escape him, but above all, he dreamed of having Lavi in his bed... and awoke in a pool of sweat.

He took a long shower – after changing the bed sheets – and allowed himself some breakfast (let's say brunch, given the hour), slightly more abundant than his usual; he felt in pieces and he needed energy.

He hadn't yet given a second bite at his onigiri when he heard knocking insistently at the door. Oh, no, the damn witch again! What else could that fucking concierge want now, the rent was paid... Kanda didn't have the time to complete his thoughts as the knock repeated itself, this time with more force.

"Quit bothering me for once!" He shouted angrily toward the door.

"Yuu? Yuu, it's me!" Lavi identified himself, hoping that the Japanese man didn't hold it against him anymore. "Willya let me come in?"

Kanda looked up at the sky in disbelief. Him again, the fucking idiot journalist, who, for whatever absurd reason, was knocking at his door that morning too!

"No." he replied curtly, continuing to eat. How to be successful in getting rid of that red haired problem? Kanda shook his head, frowning.

"But, Yuu!" Lavi protested, and when he didn't receive any reply he resigned himself to sit again on the corridor's floor. "Okay, I'll wait." He said in a melancholy tone, a barely detectable hint of disappointment in his voice.

Moments later the door suddenly slammed open, and a highly irritated Kanda Yuu addressed him with extreme rudeness.

"What do you want?" The Japanese man growled, barely holding himself back from kicking his persecutor in the ass.

"Talk?" Lavi said with an angelic air, at which Kanda felt the irresistible impulse to grab him by the neck and squeeze until he stopped breathing.

"I don't." Kanda was about to slam the door in the red-headed idiot face again, but said idiot was quick to stand up and block it with one hand.

"Yuu, I know ya didn't write those things, what I don't know is why ya chose me as co-protagonist." Lavi said showing a sudden serious expression; he noted that his words had hit the mark this time, and immediately a satisfied smirk appeared again on his face. "Mind ya, I'm honored, I've no objections 'bout it. Only, I'm curious t'know why, and who helps ya with, let's say the 'hard' scenes." Kanda's eyes widened slightly, staring into Lavi's emerald green one, and he stood there looking in vain for a response to give him.

"What make you so sure it's not all my work?" Kanda finally asked after a moment of awkward silence, getting from Lavi a smile even wider than the previous one, only this time not anymore mocking but sympathetic, something that surprised Kanda a lot.

"Can we talk inside?" Lavi suggested. "It's more 'private'." The Japanese detective slowly stepped aside allowing him to enter, although he was by no means happy about that, leading Lavi into the living room.

"Well?" He exclaimed impatiently, seeing that instead of continuing the conversation the idiot was losing time by examining his house. Lavi cast at him an eloquent look, accompanied by his perpetual smile.

"Even if I hadn't seen with my own eyes the face ya made readin' that passage, as if ya didn't know what it was 'bout, yer attitude as a person tells me that ya're not comfortable talkin' 'bout sex, let alone writin' it. Yer the private and closed type." The redhead said with absolute certainty, as if he had known him all his life.

"_Che_." Was Kanda's only reaction to this analysis of his behavior, his face turned to the side, looking away, his expression forcedly neutral.

"B'cause, if I may say," Lavi continued as if he were holding a press conference "ya don't seem t'have any kind of sexual appetite, yer cold and insensitive towards anyone, so…"

"Did you come here to inquire into my sex life or something?" Kanda snapped, an unpleasant sensation of heat rising to his cheeks, reddening them slightly. Again, his relationship with sex was brought up, by someone whom he had no intention to talk about it with!

"No, absolutely not!" Lavi laughed heartily, greatly contributing to Kanda's increasing embarrassment. "Just explainin' t'ya why I don't think those gay sex scenes could be yer work... Yer too rigid and intransigent, almost 'puritanical', not t'mention the fact that ya shun human contact. Maybe it's the work ya do; maybe it's a form of defense from the world–"

"It's a form of defense from idiots like you! What, you also want to psychoanalyze me now?" Kanda snapped; he was beginning to have enough of that unpleasant conversation, and especially of the continuous sniggering coming from the idiot redhead, who sat in front of him as if he were at home on his own fucking couch instead of on his.

"Ah, Yuu!" Lavi said nearly choking in the attempt of trying not to burst into laughing in Kanda's face, knowing that such a thing would produce catastrophic effects for the progress of their _friendship_, and Kanda had just remembered that he hadn't ever given to the redhead his consent to call him by his first name (and consequently he was about to bang Lavi's head against the nearest wall) when a cell rang: Kanda's.

Lavi never knew that whoever was the caller had just saved his life…

"Kanda." The Japanese detective's face immediately became pale and his features tensed so much that Lavi feared to see the bones of his cheekbones coming out. The news Kanda was receiving couldn't be any good, judging by his reaction. "I'll be right there." Kanda said simply, closing the phone.

"Something's wrong?" The journalist in Lavi instantly resurfaced, longing to know what so serious could had happened to upset like that someone as Yuu.

"None of your business." Kanda stated coldly, and then grabbed his coat, gesturing with one hand at Lavi to indicate the door, inviting him to go out, or better, to get out of his fucking way. "I have no time to listen to your nonsense. And don't even try to follow me, or I'll have you arrested this time." He warned the redhead in a threatening tone as they left the apartment together.

Lavi knew perfectly well that Yuu wouldn't hesitate to put into practice those threats, so he pretended to obey, and parted from Kanda with a smile after excitedly greeting the concierge, who was now doting on him.

But when the detective had disappeared in the subway entrance, Bookman Junior called the newspaper asking Johnny to listen at the police frequencies searching for a serious event, such as a murder or a big accident, something particularly tragic in short, and the little man soon gave him the answers he needed: murder, between 7th and Broadway.

Lavi jumped on the first bus going there that happened to pass by him, impatient to reach Yuu and to find out why this crime was so important.

He reached the place of the murder that Kanda should have just arrived at, judging by how he was confabulating with a group of policemen and CSI agents. The reporter pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt disguising his flamboyant red hair, and mingled with the crowd, trying to get as close as possible to the agents – and thus for sure to the body – to be able to hear at least in part their speeches, and of course look at the crime scene.

Once within hearing distance he could catch fragments of conversation, and what he learned lit a bulb in his head; it reminded him of something, which for the moment escaped him, yet Lavi knew that it was damn important! He continued to move, following Kanda's movements, until the policemen stood aside and he could see the victim's body; her position and the way she had been killed made him suddenly remember what it was that it seemed so familiar in the whole scene, and the missing piece of the puzzle came into place.

The book.

The crime was based on Yuu's second story, on the second victim described in it: and so Lavi suddenly realized what troubled Yuu so much.

"Yuu!" He called in a low voice, gravely, and gesturing towards Kanda he crossed the yellow tape that marked the crime scene.

Promptly a policeman stopped him, but Lavi showed his press card, and the man called for the detective. Kanda's eyes widened recognizing him, and he walked angrily to the youth, motioning to the cop that he knew the redhead and he would see to him.

"What are you doing here, idiot!" The Japanese man hissed angrily, looking around himself nervously. "I told you not to follow me!"

Lavi was uncertain if it was because Yuu feared he could be involved in the aims of the serial killer who was copying the crimes from his novels, or because he feared the rumors about the two of them.

"The book, Yuu, I know what's goin' on. You can't keep me out of it; I'm involved as well..." Lavi began to explain, but Kanda snorted in annoyance, interrupting him.

"_Che_. You don't know what you're saying." he silenced him immediately before someone could hear, keeping his voice volume low but retaining his usual abrupt and angry tone. Then he suddenly motioned to two police officers behind him. "Rid me from this pest. Now." He ordered them, going away without another word.

"No! Yuu, wait! Yuu!" Lavi vigorously protested while the two cops dragged him away.


	5. Chapter 5: Serial Killer

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own D. Gray-man, sadly.**

**WARNING: YAOI - if you don't know what this word means, or if you don't like boy/boy relationship this story is not for you, don't say I didn't tell you! You know the song, DON'T LIKE DON'T READ!**

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I feel like using 'copy and paste' each time I update one of my stories... u_u

Okay, can't help it, sorry for the long wait. Actually, I can't grant when my other translations will be ready. They will be done, but - and I'm sorry I had to decide to do this - for now I will only keep translating this story and "From Doomsday to Doomsday", as it was since some time now.

I know I promised otherwise, but I can't keep up with my stuffs lately. It's been this way for the past months and it will be the same for the future. Sorry about this.

And, another bad news is that my beta will be busy too for quite a long time; so, actually, my next update after this one will be with date unknown.

Anyway, enjoy this new chapter!

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As always, a big THANKS to EM1&EM2, aka Saxon-Jesus who did the beta work for me, being so patient and helpful!

I love you!

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_**********kichikoneko**_: Well, looks like it took forever to have this up... Sorry to have disappointed you u_u I hope at least this chapter will make you happy, since I can't grant a date for the next update.

_**********simply anonymous**_: a hint about what is going on is in this chapter, if you read between the lines of a certain scene...  
Again, the "copy and paste" syndrome, since I'm going to apologize with you too about this very late update. And, like I told to kichikoneko, I hope you will enjoy this chapter, since I don't know when the next one will be ready.

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**CHAPTER 5: Serial Killer**

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Lavi had been forced to leave the crime scene, but he wasn't at all about to give in; he had to discover as much as possible around what was happening, because if there was a serial killer who was taking inspiration for his job from Yuu's book, then the murders would continue to follow the same sequence as in the stories...

He went back to the newspaper office, and searched for all the information he could gather about every crime previous to this one that might look look similar to the first victims appearing in the book, and thus he easily identified the two initial ones.

The killer was challenging Yuu? If it was so, Yuu would feel responsible for the victims, and certainly he would have wanted to capture the murderer all by himself.

So, Lavi went to Kanda's home and waited for him to come back; he absolutely had to talk to the man, even if he already foresaw that it would be a really hard task. And then, it began to thunder, but only when the first drops fell onto him, did Lavi realize he had no umbrella, noting that his clothes were slowly beginning to get soaked.

Kanda didn't have one either, Lavi could ascertain, seeing him emerging from behind the corner of thenext building, with his trench coat pulled over his head, as he walked briskly toward the entrance of the apartment house where he lived.

"Yuu!" Lavi called out loudly, approaching the main door of said house to meet Kanda. The youth turned to him, surprised, but it lasted only an instant and this expression was immediately replaced by an irritated one. "Yuu, wait, just wanna talk t'ya for a moment!"

Kanda raised an eyebrow, frowning at the unauthorized use of his first name; he quickly opened the heavy door, attempting to slip inside the building without bothering to answer. An arm, though, interposed itself between him and the atrium of the edifice, and Lavi looked at him straight in the eye with an eloquent face.

"I have nothing to say to you." Kanda spat out, caustic, forcing on the door to enter, but Lavi resisted, his expression resolute, no longer playful and light as it was moments before. "_No comment_, as they say in these cases." The detective hissed, jostling the nuisance to move him to the side, and then slamming the door behind him with no clemency, leaving the young Bookman outside to the mercy of the weather's inclemency.

Once he got back home, Kanda found Lenalee in the kitchen; she had kept his dinner hot and was sipping a cup of tea while waiting for him to return.

With an annoyed snort the youth sat down in front of her, without even taking his coat off, holding his face in his hands; he started massaging his temples with his thumbs, under the girl's searching gaze.

He was tired, and worried by the implications that the recent discovery he'd had about the murders would bring with it, especially concerning the idiot who continued to follow him step by step, regardless of the risk he was taking.

No, it was incorrect; at the moment the retard was _unaware_ of being in such a big danger by hanging round him, because, if the serial killer was challenging him as it appeared to be, following at the same pace as the sequence of his stories, then all the people related to them could be targeted as well.

And Lavi was one of the main characters; if the murderer knew him, he wouldn't take long to notice the resemblance between the journalist and his equivalent in the book. Especially if the youth insisted on tailing him.

Kanda hardly sighed, as he felt a hand brushing his hair aside from his back.

After placing in front of him a steaming hot cup of ramen, Lenalee had moved behind him, and had started massaging his shoulders, hoping that way to loosen the emotional tension in addition to the muscular one.

"What happened?" The girl dared to ask, her hands dancing along Kanda's sore neck.

"Nothing." The youth stated in a neutral tone, bowing his head under the pressure of Lenalee's fingers.

"This is not a 'nothing' face." She teased him, lightly pinching one of his cheeks.

The vein on Kanda's forehead began to throb and his expression became even more upset, but he didn't attack Lenalee as he would have done with any other living being, he just grit his teeth, stiffening his jaw.

"I don't want to talk about it." He abruptly cut the discussion off, unable to prevent the sentence from taking his usual rude tone. With Lenalee he tried to control himself, but tonight he was too troubled (and above all too irritated) to look after his manners.

"Has this got something to do with that reporter?" Pressed the girl, accustomed to her friend's sharp replies, therefore not at all discouraged or intimidated by his refusal to confide to her what was distressing him this much. She knew how to be persuasive; she would have wrung it out of him all the same, in one way or another.

"No." was the youth's laconic reply, and Lenalee giggled softly at the tone with which it was pronounced: impatient.

And when Kanda was eager to conclude a discussion, it meant that said discussion was going in a direction that he didn't like, ergo his thoughts were in danger of becoming public, or the truth about something concerning him was coming to light.

"Then it's because of him." The girl concluded, as she traveled down Kanda's shoulders, whereupon he grabbed her hands escaping the massage and turned to look at her, showing a frowning and annoyed expression.

"Why on earth, all the damn times I say 'no' you automatically assume that it's a 'yes'?" He exclaimed, exasperated by Lenalee's insistence in absolutely wanting to dig into his private life. "And don't laugh, dammit!"

Lenalee immediately tried to suppress that hint of laughter that had escaped her, moved by Kanda's evident embarrassment.

"Because, when there's something you don't want to tell, you become impatient to cut off the conversation." She revealed to him afterwards, winking and waving an accusatory finger at him.

"He followed me all the fucking day. I had two of my cops send him packing." Kanda muttered, getting ready to dip his chopsticks into his ramen cup, a sign that he considered the discussion closed.

Lenalee smiled, nodding; she knew she wouldn't get more than this, but it was enough to make her understand that Kanda was somehow _touched_ by the situation.

And this was interesting. He usually would get rid of anyone else quickly and definitively; clearly, that Lavi guy was really skilled in dealing with people, to be able to involve someone like Kanda in something, whatever it was.

She watched him eating, noting that the tension hadn't disappeared from his face. He was really worried about something, even if she couldn't guess what it was, and judging by how deeply the youth was lost in his thoughts as he dined, it was clear that it was about a serious matter.

As soon as he finished his ramen, Kanda immediately rose from the table, and, while Lenalee was arranging the empty bowl in the dishwasher with the other dishes and cutlery, approached the window with a circumspect manner, looking out towards the entrance of their building.

Lenalee, who continued to observe Kanda furtively, immediately noticed his facial expression changing when his gaze met something that caught his attention, and she suddenly understood what it was that worried him so much.

Lavi had stayed outside the building waiting for him. Of course it had to be because of that, and moreover, it was pouring.

The girl came alongside Kanda, who was lurking behind the window's glass, looking down to the road at Lavi's form, while he was looking upward right toward that particular window, under the pouring rain, completely soaked by now.

Lenalee shook her head, thinking over how stubborn the journalist was, too, in addition to her cold-hearted roommate. A heart that perhaps was slowly melting, since Kanda was showing a minimum amount of concern by checking on the other youth's condition.

"Why don't you let him come up?" Lenalee suggested, trying to loosen the tension she felt in the air, hoping to shorten Lavi's wait in the rain, and getting instead the opposite effect.

"No." Kanda immediately stated, without even looking back at her.

Sharp. Icy. Lapidary. Lenalee sighed.

"If you two had a fight, he'll be sorry as much as you..." She began to say, trying to get him see sense, but it was like talking to the wall. When Kanda Yuu put his foot down on something, there was no way to make him change his mind.

"Nothing like that happened." Another sharp answer, uttered in a flat, indifferent tone, but the tension on Kanda's face once again betrayed impatience to close the verbal exchange, and Lenalee knew that the youth was lying.

"No?" She asked, adopting a playful attitude and directing him a sly smile, knowing that getting at Kanda she was often able to deter him and have him reveal something to her.

But not this time. This time, Kanda snapped, suddenly turning to her with an accusatory expression on his face.

"Don't look at me like that, like you know everything better than me, as if you're expecting that what you wrote could turn into reality!" In spite of how much he had promised himself he wouldmind his language, the words came out his mouth harsh and disdainful, leaving the person whom they were directed visibly shocked.

Perhaps, although he had said she was forgiven, this story had undermined the trust Kanda nurtured in her, and Lenalee couldn't blame him.

"Kanda-kun, you don't really believe that I..." The girl put her hands on her hips and bit her lip, sulking. "Oh, it's useless arguing with you!" She exclaimed, turning her back to him, indignantly, and shooting straight into her room.

Kanda looked at her running away, thoughtfully, sighing while he was going back to watch the scene below his window. Shrugging his shoulders, he decided that it wasn't worth worrying this much for a foolhardy idiot like this reporter, and he resolutely walked toward his room, too.

"_Oh, dammit!" _He mentally cursed, as he stopped halfway there and did an about-face, taking instead the corridor which led to the apartment door, opening it and sliding with no hesitation into the elevator.

A few minutes later the main door of the building swung open and a furious Kanda appeared in the doorway, addressing a murderous look to the redheaded nuisance.

The sudden noise had Lavi turn, finding himself staring at the Japanese detective with evident astonishment painted on his wet face, his flaming red hair completely soaked, falling in locks dripping water, half plastered onto his cheeks and forehead.

"Idiot! Why did you stay here?" Kanda roared, shaking his fist at the youth soaked to the bone, his expression a mixture of anger and annoyance, the latter mostly addressed to himself, due to the weakness he had just shown coming down to retrieve the fucking journalist.

Because Kanda already knew that he would let Lavi stay at his home tonight, and he was also aware that this was exactly what Lavi was aiming for, and this irritated him even more, but he couldn't help it.

He was curious to know why the idiot was so insistent upon him, although he would never admit it to anyone.

"I was hopin' ya would resign yerself t'let me come up..." Lavi confessed, offering an innocent smile. "I did a lil' search over the recent murders, and I've compared them with the ones from yer book. Think we could work together, as 'm sure ya didn't say a word at yer Precinct 'bout the similarities with yer stories..."

"No way." Kanda hissed, and one of his eyebrows twitched in irritation; so, this was his purpose, he only aimed to get a scoop on the homicides, maybe titling it 'Author Murders' or something equally stupid.

"I've an infallible photographic memory, 'm able t'compare every single detail with absolute precision, includin' yer first two murders. I even studied all the police reports." Lavi informed him, accompanying the information with another of his smiles, sly, this time. Kanda's eyes widened, how could he possibly have placed his hands on the case files? The idiot must have a contact within the Police Precinct... Kanda immediately thought to Miranda, frowning more. "Could ya at least give me shelter from the rain?" Bookman Junior added, opening his arms wide as if to say 'Can't you see in what conditions am I?', which almost made Kanda change his mind about the generous and out of character gesture he had decided to do.

"_Che_." Was his comment to the irritating journalist's last request.

"It's a yes?" Insisted the latter in a persuasive tone; a grunt and a nod toward the interior of the building, and, even if reluctant, Kanda stepped aside to allow Lavi to enter.

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Lenalee heard the door slam for the second time, and Kanda's angry voice summoning 'Stop there!' to someone, who the girl was certain to be Lavi even before hearing his voice replying with a plaintive 'Yer so mean, Yuu-chan!' as something was badly thrown at him.

Judging from the noise, Lenalee assumed it had to be a towel, and smiled, satisfied; even if the youth still kept his rude manners, he was worrying for Lavi, after all.

'Dry yourself.' she heard Kanda order him, 'I don't want you to go around dripping all over my house.' and a string of curses followed the 'At yer orders!' he received in response.

The girl giggled, picturing the scene; she would have wanted to peek, but couldn't risk being caught red-handed, ruining everything, so she resigned herself to just listen to what she could hear through the closed door.

Lavi promptly obeyed, wiping his hair and face somewhat; then, he put on the slippers that Kanda had brought to him in the meantime, leaving his wet boots next to the entrance. Right afterwards, to his great surprise he was forcefully dragged into the bathroom, and pushed into it.

"Take a shower and place your clothes on the washing machine, I'll leave you something to wear hanging on the door knob." Kanda decreed in a dismissive tone, slamming the door in the youth's face.

Lavi was more than happy to do what he was told, and when he emerged fully dressed (Yuu's clothes were just a bit short but they fit him great), dabbing his hair with a towel, he found Kanda at his computer sipping a cup of tea, intent on reading something with the typical expression of absolute concentration of one who is completely absorbed in his work.

Lavi silently stood behind him to observe the detective's work, finding confirmation to his hypothesis that he was comparing the victims of the real murders with the ones in the stories written by him, and only after several minutes Kanda noticed the presence behind his back.

"In the kitchen there's a cup for you too." He simply said without stopping reading, and Lavi smiled, thinking that at last the youth wasn't as bad as he tried to seem.

Lenalee followed their debate for hours, even if she couldn't distinguish the words too well now that the two boys were speaking normally, in civil tones. She understood that they were analyzing the stories, but not compared to what, and she was very curious to know the reason, because it seemed to be an important thing.

Then, at some point Lavi said something about the time in an annoyed tone, and it could be heard Kanda sighing, which led the girl to look at the clock on the wall: two o'clock in the morning. It looked like the hated journalist would spend the night at their place, despite everything.

"You're an idiot!" Kanda said, as he was probably leading Lavi into the living room, and Lavi apologized to him, complaining that he had forgotten to look at the time because he was too focused on the analysis of data, something which Kanda replied with one of his '_Ches'_. "Arrange yourself on the couch, in silence. If you wake me up, I'll kill you." She heard him saying aloud right after, while Lavi continued to complain that it wasn't his fault.

Lenalee giggled again, settling herself in bed: she found that those two were really a great couple.

Once left alone, Lavi curled up on the couch, covering himself with the plaid blanket that Kanda had 'kindly' placed at his disposal, looking for a comfortable position to sleep, and not finding it.

He turned and rolled over several times, finally deciding that he would have to risk his life disturbing the landlord, and tiptoeing, he reached the youth's bedroom, carefully leaving the door ajar and peering inside.

Yuu was sleeping peacefully, Lavi ascertained, although he couldn't tell how deeply... Well, he was ordered not to wake him for any reason, therefore, so he couldn't ask for permission to sleep in the bed next to him, which is why he felt entitled to do so without asking anything, as long as he did it in silence.

In a flash he was under the covers next to Kanda, without moving a straw in the room, and immediately falling asleep.

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Kanda felt something touch him, and a light weight suddenly pressing against his back. He ignored it, thinking it was just a dream, but when said weight exhaled a contented sigh, Kanda's eyes flew open at once, and he turned around, levering himself on both his elbows and pulling himself slightly up to see what the hell was the source of that weird sound.

What he saw froze his breath in his throat: Lavi, blissfully asleep beside him, with that fucking idiotic grin on his face. Anger won overembarrassment, and Kanda got ready to kick the intruder unceremoniously onto the floor, but the idiot, deprived of the support against his body, clung to his waist using him as a pillow. Lavi's touch sent a chill through every fiber of Kanda's body, making him automatically think to... Yes, _that_.

Waking up with a journalist in his bed wasn't exactly the ambition of Kanda's life, particularly if this reporter was the starring of scenes that saw them involved _together_ in acts... acts... Obscene acts?

He didn't know how to define them otherwise. He landed a punch on Lavi's head, and the latter left his hold awaking with a start, frightened (other than aching).

"Oi, you idiot! Get out of my bed immediately!" Kanda roared, hitting the target with a powerful kick, which slammed the illegal bed partner straight against the nearest wall. The young man then stood up, approaching the poor victim with all the intention to finish the job.

"It hurts!" Lavi moaned rubbing his neck and back, moving gingerly onto his knees, still confused from what had just occurred. "Yuu, you're a brute, waking me up in such a way and beating me for no reason!" He protested, shaking his head, still dazed by the sudden (and painful) awakening.

"And you haven't seen half of what I'm capable of doing to you, if you don't stop using my first name," Kanda hissed, taking him by the shirt he was wearing. "And, dammit, what the fuck were you doing in my bed?"

"I was sleepin'?" This statement granted Lavi a firmer hold around his neck. "The sofa is uncomfortable... Please, Yuu, yer chockin' me..." He stuttered, trying to loosen the hands' grip that tried to strangle him using his own clothes.

"Breakfast is ready!" Came a cry from the other room. "Are you going to stop quarreling, or not?"

Both the youths faintly blushed; they had completely forgotten Lenalee's presence. Kanda let go suddenly, standing up, quickly acquiring a shirt and adjusting his hair somehow in a low ponytail, and the other contender ended up on the ground again with a thud, moaning in pain once more (perhaps in a somewhat emphasized way), accusing Yuu, once more, of being violent.

"_Che_. Shut your trap and move, if you want to eat." Kanda ordered him, ignoring each and every complaint and heading towards the kitchen.

Lavi followed him without another word, curious about Lenalee's reaction. She addressed them a bright smile, bringing tea (coffee for Lavi) and various dishes to them.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked afterwards in an innocent tone.

"It's not what you think." Both the youths answered in chorus, and Lenalee laughed softly, trying not to look too satisfied with their mortified expression.

"Have I insinuated something?" She mocked them in a friendly manner, enjoying the slight blush that appeared on each of the two young men's face.

"No, but you thought it!" Kanda replied, annoyed, and she giggled again, looking at him with an understanding glance that made him even more irritated.

"Even if it was true, what harm would be in it?" She said innocently, waving a graceful finger at them with a severe manner, which under the current situation was almost as if she were scolding two children caught with their fingers in the jam jar.

Kanda opened his mouth to reply, then closed it without anything coming out. It was absolutely useless to insist with Lenalee when she was convinced of something, and Lavi also was learning it quickly at his own expense.

Without adding a word further they ate in silence, while Lenalee watched them, satisfied with the turn which - according to her - events had taken.

Tired of the embarrassing silence, at some point Lavi conveniently brought the conversation onto something more frivolous, much to Kanda's relief; so, after finishing the meal and saying goodbye to the girl, who was leaving to go to class at her university, they returned to work on the case using Kanda's computer.

"Ya think this guy could be one of yer crazed fans who freaked out?" Lavi asked at some point, after reading for the umpteenth time the serial killer's profile.

"Who knows. Anything is possible with a mentally disturbed murderer like this." Kanda replied casually, as he highlighted another similarity between the homicides and his stories.

"What if you publish a new book? Maybe this could draw him outdoors." Lavi suggested, putting the case file on the desk and leaning toward the monitor, right over the other youth's shoulders.

"I..." Kanda had actually thought the same thing, but the idea was immediately rejected because of his... he decided to call it _slowness at writing_; Lenalee would rather say 'grammatical and technical deficiencies'. "Well, you know that I can't do it, alone and in such a short time, and frankly speaking for how things are right now I don't want to do it."

Had he just justified himself? He mentally slapped himself for showing a weak point to the annoying pain-in the-ass-reporter.

"If I help you out?" Lavi offered, smiling, this time without malice, one of those disarming smiles that unsettled Kanda inside, even if he didn't understand the reason.

"No." He muttered, keeping a neutral tone and trying not to give any importance to his reply, but the way in which his body had stiffened at that proposal told Lavi that this 'No' was actually a 'Worse'.

"It embarrasses you that much?" Kanda heard being asked to him.

Here, he had expected this question, made with the same casual tone used in interviews. Obviously the fucking meddler wouldn't let him change the subject, he had to know it.

"Yes. And I don't want to talk about it." Kanda stated sharply, considering the matter closed, but no, the idiot couldn't respect his privacy, he had to insist.

"It's just a description, not reality; you'll see, that's not this terrible." Lavi tried to downplay the meaning of the 'hot' scenes in the story, hoping to mitigate Yuu's embarrassment in writing sex related situations.

"Are you telling me that you don't feel embarrassed to describe things such... such... with..." Kanda couldn't even say it, so he gestured eloquently between them, hoping that the other would understand him without he was forced to say things like 'us having sex' aloud.

"With you and me playin' the leadin' roles? No. It's all fake, Yuu. Moreover it's not us; yer characters are only inspired by us." Lavi smiled at him again, reassuring, hypnotic, irresistible. Kanda gave up without even realizing it.

"Fine; but I don't want to watch as you write it." He concluded, turning his face to the side.

Lavi chuckled; it was incredible how much someone tough and experienced as Yuu was could feel this uncomfortable about discussing sex.

"Yuu, you gotta get rid of this block. Wanna improve, right? You've got t'write yerself; I'll just correct you afterwards." He put a hand on Kanda's shoulder, as to encourage him, and the youth sighed: he was trapped. He nodded reluctantly.

"Good." Lavi nodded back with a satisfied expression. "While I'm studyin' this other report on the case, you can start writin'."

"What?" Kanda astounded. '_Here, now, with him beside me?'_ shouted his troubled mind. "Now?" Was what his mouth uttered.

The other gave an affirmative nod, and Kanda swallowed hard. He couldn't draw back.

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Meanwhile, at the Noah's Ark publishing house there was a bit of agitation in the air. Mr. Earl Millennium, the owner – nicknamed 'The Count' for his princely life style, and secondarily because his name, Earl, meant just 'Count' for British people – was on the phone with the New York branch director, talking about some news that had recently reached his ears regarding one of their most successful writers.

"No problem boss, really. The writer is still ours." A blond woman was saying, trying to reassure his principal.

«I heard that Bookman has put his grandson to dog our writer's steps, you know how dangerous that hack-journalist is!» The man accused sourly. «Rid me of him, Lulubell, I don't want our goose that lays golden eggs passing to the competition.» He ordered in a way that left no room for misunderstandings. «Make sure that Kanda Yuu doesn't hear about this Lavi Bookman ever again, understood?»

"It will be done, boss, I was well informed. I have already entrusted him to one of our supporters' care, he won't take long to enter into action." The woman's voice was proud and confident as she informed the notorious Count about the measures she had already taken.

«Very well, keep me informed.» And upon this request the man hung up.

"Road!" The director called through the office intercom. "Tell Tyki to conclude, looks like our propaganda action is having some difficulty." To the girl's surprised exclamation, Lulubell revealed the cause of their problem. "We have Bookman Junior in our way."

«I'm calling Tyki at once.» Road confirmed gravely, closing the communication.


	6. Chapter 6: Threats

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own D. Gray-man, sadly. If it was otherwise... Lavi and Kanda should have been together from like FOREVER! **

**WARNING: YAOI - if you don't know what this word means, or if you don't like boy/boy relationship this story is not for you, don't say I didn't tell you! You know the song, DON'T LIKE DON'T READ!**

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I'm so sorry for the long wait. Real life became really messy since last May, and I'm going through huge family trobles. So, I couldn't find some peace of mind to keep translating this.

But, since I'm as stubborn as Kanda, I finally managed to complete this chapter. You know, I can't give up on Lavi and Yuu.

I hope my efforts will be appreciated. I thank all the readers who left a review to support me.

Enjoy this one, because I don't know when I'll be able to work on - and complete - the next.

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My thanks to **bookwormperson **for reading through this, helping me out with some grammar issues.

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_**IT'S A MISTAKE... MAYBE**_

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**CHAPTER 6: Threats**

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Lavi was watching Kanda from the chair beside him in which he was lying comfortably, pretending to not have finished studying the dossier regarding the recent chain of homicides. He was contemplating the youth's beautiful black hair that now had been let free on his shoulders, a black waterfall reaching his waist line, going a bit further than it.

Really an exceptional hair length for a man, and above all it was incredibly cared for. Lavi felt an irresistible urge to touch this hair, but forced himself to keep his self-control; instead, he focused on reading every now and then what Kanda was writing.

From the way it looked, Yuu lacked a lot as for imagination: he was using the recent events as a plot. Which, however, was not a bad idea, after all.

Lavi made a mental note to discuss the plot with him while proof reading his work, and meanwhile continued to watch the man with interest. Yuu's countenance focused on his job was even more beautiful, and he would have loved to weave his fingers through that wonderful hair...

OK, maybe he was letting himself being influenced a bit too much from all this novel thing. It was simply absurd that he just found himself desiring another man like this, all of a sudden, out of the countless people existing upon the earth with whom he could start a relationship.

And still his interest was all for Kanda; he wanted to know the man's tastes, his past, his habits... yes, even _those_ habits, since he had no inhibitions whatsoever about it. Lavi sighed, which attracted attention to him from the object of his desires.

"Something's wrong?" Kanda immediately asked, supposing there was some inconsistency between the evidence from the three crimes.

Lavi immediately raised his glance toward the young man, coming back to reality, and shook his head.

"No, it's just we're deadlocked." He admitted, straightening himself up in his chair. "There're no real clues that could lead to the killer, only identical elements matchin' with the victims of yer stories."

"Yeah." Kanda agreed; that was exactly why he thought that publishing a new story would work as a bait, if he had provided the right elements to attract the bastard into a trap. Lavi seemed to perfectly understand his point, deciding it was time for a check at his progress.

"Lemme see," he said, leaning forward to read.

Kanda stiffened at the touch of one hand landing on his shoulder, but pretended it wasn't bothering him.

He observed Lavi typing something and exchanged places with him, to allow the other man to write without obstacles, but he'd just stood up that his cell phone rang.

"Kanda." The youth answered, and sighed sadly. "I'll be right there." He said, and closed the phone, noticing the quizzical look on Lavi's face: he was already waiting for the bad news to be announced.

"Another one?" The question had more the tone of a statement, and the Japanese detective merely nodded, showing a serious expression. "Let's go, maybe this time he betrayed himself."

"You're not..." Kanda started to say, but seeing the journalist already raising his visible eyebrow he gave up on ordering the man not to follow him; he knew that the idiot would have done it anyway. "Oh, fuck! Do what you want." He snapped, taking his trench and dashing toward the door, Lavi promptly rushing behind him.

Once in the entrance, the concierge greeted Lavi almost warbling, which in spite of himself made Kanda's fingers contract themselves, and he, as a consequence, clenched his hands into fists in irritation.

What he was annoyed about, really, he didn't understand it. Even if a part of him was making Kanda disturbingly notice that this sense of anger he felt toward the woman was, in fact, _jealousy_.

He kicked that little voice that was mocking him with some ridiculous insinuations about his feelings toward the idiot journalist by his side, addressing said woman with a grunt as a salute. The concierge sneered in response, foretasting the effect that the message she was about to tell would give rise.

"Your fiancée said that she will be back very late tonight, and not to wait for her." She broke the news with satisfaction, a forced smile on her ruddy face, almost hoping that Lenalee was cheating on the man, just like this, without shame.

Kanda nodded coldly, going straight to the door, while Lavi returned the greeting grinning, one hand resting on the detective's shoulder; which, for some reason, gave to the latter a sense of triumph against the woman.

"But... whose girlfriend's Lenalee?" Lavi asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

"It's not my fault if she told that story to the fucking concierge." Kanda made it clear in a biting tone. "That girl got too much imagination," he added right after.

Lavi heartily chuckled to this statement, leaning even closer to him as they turned into the subway entrance, and it made his heart give a strange leap, Kanda realized with a trace of fear.

His reactions to the idiot rabbit were worrying him a lot, if he had to be honest with himself, which he refused to do at the moment...

He had more important matters to think about, just as an example he had to deal with the fucking serial killer who was using him as an inspiration for his crimes.

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Arrived on the crime scene Kanda didn't even notice the astonished looks that were turned in his direction when his colleagues saw Lavi walking beside him as if he were his partner, rather than the detective who was waiting for him near the victim's corpse. He was too busy examining the new crime – which already at a glance exactly followed the first homicide from his third story – to take care of anything else.

He had to stop the madman before he made a slaughter of young women.

Kanda exchanged an agreement nod with the reporter, without thinking about the implications behind the act; because no one missed this gesture, and amused little smiles mirrored themselves from a face to another of the policemen present.

Kanda the Terrible had found a partner who was not afraid of him. Too bad he wasn't a cop but a dangerous reporter, someone who should _not_ be there to mess with the evidence, and in particular to watch during the investigation.

The fact that someone like Kanda allowed him to do this was saying a lot (according to them) on the kind of relationship the two men shared. There must have been something behind it, no doubt, and in fact there really was, only, it wasn't what they were thinking.

Kanda confabulated a few minutes with the other detective, Marie – the journalist always at his side, which arose great perplexity in the corpulent man – then he directed a piercing gaze at the intruder.

"_Do. Not. Touch. Anything._ Understood?" He ordered him peremptorily, getting giggles from a bit everywhere around them.

Lavi nodded repeatedly, putting his hands in his pockets and limiting himself to observe and listen everything.

But of course this couldn't last for long. While the corpse was being inspected, something caught Lavi's attention when the Medical Examiner got up after finishing his preliminary examination of the victim. So, as the man was answering Kanda's questions, the young journalist bent down, picking up from the sand, under the dead woman's hair, a piece of paper folded several times.

"Thank you, Reever." Kanda said; the man answered with a wave, giving his consent for the corpse to be removed. "Keep me posted."

The doctor nodded, leaving with his assistants and the victim's body, while Kanda turned to Lavi, fearing he could do some damage, getting him into trouble at work as well as in his private life. He saw the youth bustling over something, his deft fingers rubbing a white scrap, like he was trying to clean it. The look on his face was absorbed, betraying the extreme importance of his discovery: a little piece of paper, folded in four. Kanda immediately sprang toward the man.

He knew it! He was picturing from the very beginning that Lavi would mess with the evidence! What an idiot he's been to trust his word. Oh, what an idiot!

He caught up with Lavi at the exact moment when the youth was opening the note and was about to read it. Kanda was going to grab the darn reporter by the neck and strangle him before everybody present, wringing the evidence from the idiot's hands, when his glance fell on the message contained in the small sheet of paper. Kanda read it with him, his face going pale.

'Red Head I follow you step by step', was written with the victim's blood on that piece of paper.

Kanda didn't at all notice Lavi's reaction, nor the long shiver that went through his body, too busy with his own anger to consider the emotional impact that such a discovery could have on the youth.

"I told you not to touch anything!" He hissed under his breath, covering the journalist's hand with his own.

"I... sorry, couldn't help it..." Lavi justified himself, trying to mask his fright. He was going to free his hand in order to give the evidence to Kanda, but the detective clenched his fingers around it, holding it into his own. This got him a look of astonishment from Lavi.

"Hide it." Kanda ordered him, looking around to see if someone might have noticed their discovery.

"What?" Lavi blurted out in amazement, the words written on that note still dancing in his head.

"Do as I've told you, idiot!" Kanda repeated, adding an insult for good measure and holding Lavi's hand stronger in his own. The recipient of the insult nodded, promptly slipping hand and note into his pocket in an innocent way. "Now get lost, we'll talk later."

The detective's words were echoing in Lavi's ears as if he was under water; it seemed so incredible that Yuu could care about him so much to want to spontaneously meet him at the end of his shift, but he found even more impossible to believe that he had suddenly become a possible target for the killer.

"But..." He objected, though not able to finish his sentence.

Lavi looked at the young man in front of him bewildered, almost frightened, and certainly confused, three components that combined together did none other than making him look so helpless and vulnerable to Kanda's eyes, that he was almost about to hug him. Almost.

Clenching his jaw Kanda regained control of himself, stopping his hands on the journalist's shoulders, not taking his eyes off the other man's green one, still wide open in shock.

"I have to go back to the Precinct and wait for the autopsy results, I'll come to the newspaper office as soon as I'm done." He murmured, trying to reassure Lavi; he knew from the beginning that it would end up like this, that the youth would be involved in this deadly game between him and the killer. Now he would have to protect him.

"You... will come to my editorial office?" Lavi asked, taken aback by that statement. Kanda nodded, serious.

"Yeah. Now go," he confirmed in a forcibly professional tone, but there was a suspicious crack in his voice. Lavi turned, as to leave, complying with what he was ordered to do, not knowing what else to say. He was wondering how immediate the danger he was running was, and if Yuu wanted to send him away as a precaution. "Oi. Watch out." Kanda added, calling him back.

Lavi smiled, waving with one hand as he walked off the crime scene.

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Lavi sat pensively at his desk, staring at the little sheet of paper he had taken from the crime scene. The killer was mad at him, too? But in Yuu's novels the reporter had never been targeted... He couldn't understand.

The sudden ringing of the phone made him literally jump from his seat, and Lavi was so grateful when Johnny answered in his place.

He still had his hand pressed over his heart as the short man with thick glasses shouted at him: "B-B-Bookman on line two!"

Lavi took a deep breath, and reluctantly pushed the intercom button.

"What now, decrepit old man?" He answered in a wearily, almost disheartened tone, which Bookman Senior didn't miss. He passed over the umpteenth of the disrespectful nicknames that his foster nephew used to saddle him with, much more interested in the cause of this anomaly. Lavi Bookman was _never_ discouraged.

_«_Lavi? Did something happen?_»_ The man asked out of curiosity. _«_Have you read the book? Met the writer? Discovered who helps him?»

"Slow down, Jurassic Fossil, one thing at a time." Lavi moaned, turning off the speakerphone and taking the receiver so that no one in the room could hear the rest of the conversation. "Yes, I read the book, and yes, I know he used me as a co-protagonist. This botherin' ya?"

_«_It should bother you, idiot!» Bookman Senior thundered. _«_Why should someone you don't even know have fantasies about you?»

"Stop the gears of your mummified brain, old panda, it's all a big misunderstanding." Lavi announced, feeling the great satisfaction of refuting his grandfather's theories. "I met the writer and talked t'im; yes, he used me to create his character, but the indicted sex scenes are his girlfriend's work, inserted without his knowin' it. She's the person who helps 'im."

_«_A woman? His girlfriend? What kind of couple are those two?» Bookman Senior said, very surprised by the news.

"I'll try to arrange a meetin' with her, 'kay?" And on the affirmative grunt he got in response Lavi hung up, sighing.

He didn't, however, have time to relax for the just escaped scolding that a strange voice coming from behind his back made him start.

"Good afternoon, I was told that you are Bookman Junior. I would like to talk to you." Its owner said with ostentatious courtesy. Rather tall, dark complexion, slightly wavy black hair that fell onto his shoulders and strange cross shaped tattoos on his forehead, sticking out from under the locks of his fringe, the man stared intently at him with two honey-colored eyes with golden tints, lasciviously smiling. "I'm from the Noah's Ark Publishing," he said.

Hearing those words, a chill ran through Lavi's spine. He ignored it.

"Oh yeah, to what do I owe the honor of this unscheduled visit, mister?" He said, inviting the unexpected visitor to sit down, despite the bad feeling he just had about him.

"Mikk. Tyki Mikk." The man introduced himself holding out his hand, which Lavi forced his own to shake cordially, even if every fiber of his body rebelled at the simple thought of making contact with that guy. "I heard you looked for one of our authors, Kanda Yuu. Since at the moment he's very busy, I'm here to ask you to make an appointment through us at the publishing house, instead of following him as you're currently doing."

"All I want is an interview." Lavi stated flatly. How did this man know that he was seeing Yuu? Had the Noah's Ark publishing had them spied on?

"Oh, would you rather try to crawl into his bed using your resemblance with one of the characters in his book?" Tyki Mikk candidly insinuated, leaning forward to get his face near to Lavi's one and running his tongue over his lower lip in a provocative way.

Then, before the reporter could stand back, the man caressed his cheek with one gloved hand, the lascivious smile showed above reappearing on his face, which made the gesture even more disturbing.

Lavi's only eye swelled dramatically as he suffered such a shameless approach.

"No. Now get out of here!" He snapped, getting out of the man's touch and indignantly showing him the door.

"As you wish. But be careful, our Kanda does a dangerous job..." Came Mr. Mikk's warn, and he saluted his interlocutor with a bow as he left the editorial office.

Lavi sank back in his chair, breathing deeply in an attempt to calm himself down. That's when he saw the head of his albino assistant peeking out from behind the nearby desk, the usual donut in his mouth and a terrified expression on his face.

"W-W-W-What did that guy want?" The boy stammered, getting to his feet.

"Nothing, nothing, moyashi. Just threaten us." Lavi got rid of him with those few words, waving a hand in a tired and resigned manner.

Threats in his profession were on the agenda; if he had to worry about all the fools who came to warn him of this and that, he would stop working.

"Hey! Quit calling me that, you spend too much time with Kanda!" Allen protested plaintively, in doing this being pitiless to the donut still clenched between his teeth.

"Who is spending too much time with _whom_ moyashi?" A voice roared from the editorial office's entrance.

"K-Kanda? What are you doing here?" Allen muttered, his amazement causing him to drop his precious donut on the ground.

The recipient of the question glared at him as he reached his boss's desk.

"None of your business." Kanda hissed grimly. "Get lost."

Allen departed sticking out his tongue at the both of them, and, clutching to his chest his bag full of food – and, of course, in his hand the donut he recovered from the floor (because he had been taught that you shouldn't waste food) – he sat at the desk next to Johnny's position, keeping on listening.

"You were quick." Lavi said, getting up and moving close to one of the editorial office's huge windows, followed by Kanda, who was staring at him with a serious look on his face.

Only then the journalist noticed a white envelope lying at his feet, probably slipped off one of the stacks of papers that were spread all over his desk.

The two young men exchanged a look, and Lavi picked it up, turning it to see if there was some sort of writing on the back, but the letter was completely white.

Strange, very strange. He looked again toward Kanda, who motioned him to open it, and Lavi slowly complied.

Inside the envelope, to the amazement of the both of them, they found a message that said: 'Red Head, I saw you beside the corpse'.

Who could have left this letter? It was not franked, but with all the people wandering round the editorial office it would have been impossible to trace the probable culprit.

"It's definitely a joke." Lavi chuckled nervously, trying to play down the discovery, but both knew that wasn't true. The handwriting was exactly the same as the message found near the dead woman's body.

"What if we work at my novel tonight?" Kanda suddenly asked, because it was much easier than saying 'You need protection, stay at my place for the night', a statement which implied an admission of concern toward the journalist.

"M'key, 'll grab my coat and let's go." Lavi immediately accepted, his usual smile coming back on his face, while tucking in his pocket the second note and being the first to head toward the exit. "Johnny, ya see to the late night-final (1) edition, I'm busy." He shouted at one of his employees while passing by him at a run, followed at the same brisk pace by Kanda.

The short guy nodded, amazed by his chief editor's behavior as much as the albino errand-boy sitting next to him was about the Japanese detective's one, whom he knew was anti-sociability personified.

That evening, the two young men discussed deeply about the plot for Kanda's new story, and Lavi showed the writer all the mistakes he'd made, correcting the text to the point Yuu had reached with his story. Having to keep his mind occupied seemed to have lessened a lot the journalist's nervousness; even if Kanda found him annoying most of the time, he was relieved to see him back at his ease. Lavi was in his element, the press, and the attitude he assumed when he was dealing with writing seemed very different from the playful one he was normally showing.

"Tired?" Lavi asked at one point, noting that his 'pupil' was distracted.

"Oh, no, no." Kanda lied. The day had been long and complicated, he not only felt exhausted, he really had had enough of everything. "It's just... I have my mind elsewhere."

_Message received_, Lavi thought, interpreting this statement as a clear reference to how boring it was for the other to listen to him.

"M'key. Got it. Why don't we go back dealin' with the case, then?" He volunteered, thinking to satisfy Kanda's will this way.

The man instead let out a short breath very close to a sigh. He nodded, taking the folder with the latest reports and accessing to the autopsy results of the victim they discovered that day.

So they began to analyzethe serial _killer's_ methodology in committing this new _crime_, by comparing what was highlighted in the postmortem report with the modusoperandi that Kanda had the murderer use in his novel, and... the end was that the following morning he awoke with Lavi back in bed beside him. Again.

Kanda took a deep breath: something was telling him that he should get used to it...

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Lavi followed the detective to his Police Precinct that morning – as he did the previous days – keeping interviewing everybody about him, under the angry (and powerless) gaze of the main subject of this huge pack of questions.

In such a way he discovered that Yuu was left an orphan in an accident, and that no one had helped him, leaving the poor little boy alone to watch his parents die.

Captain Tiedoll was the one who had found the child weeping over his parents' bodies, when he was still just a cop, and having no children he immediately decided to adopt him. It was no wonder that Kanda now didn't trust anything or anyone and had troubles dealing with inter-personal relationships.

So, Lavi decided that if he needed Kanda because of the situation, Yuu certainly needed him to free himself from his past.

Consequently there was no stopping him from being beside his favorite detective every instant he could, each and every spare moment of his day he just had to spend it with Yuu, and he didn't listen to reason.

Not that Kanda was opposing that much, especially after the third threats message they found right at his home – because, since when they started working together both to the new story and to the serial killer case, the young journalist had practically settled with him – and given the fact that by now everyone at the Precinct was firmly convinced that the two of them were together.

And it was completely useless to discuss it, nothing he could say to deny what others considered the _evidence_ would have made them change their mind about the kind of relationship he and the redhead shared.

Which was pretty much one-sided to tell the truth; Lavi claimed to have some sort of bond with Kanda, while the latter was just bearing him. Or maybe he was desperately trying to convince himself that it was so.

Lavi went to the 49th Precinct even to wait for Kanda to show up for his shift (those few times that he didn't come with him), and he blissfully plonked himself at his desk, complete with feet above it and arms crossed behind his head, as if he was in his own goddamn third-rateeditorial office!

So, Kanda after numerous attempts to dissuade him from doing this again had begun to come near him from behind, hitting one of the legs supporting the chair, causing Lavi to crash miserably on the ground in between the general laughter.

That's why at the Precinct everybody were also convinced that Lavi was a masochist, as he insisted in doing it again each time, getting the same treatment in return... It seemed almost like it was a game for him.

Defining Lavi extravagant didn't come anywhere near the idea; from the way he dressed to the way he behaved, the earrings he wore, the habit of speaking slang all the time...

But the one thing that upset Kanda the most was that the youth was able to continue to talk nonsense for hours, just gibberish, until he hit him or yelled at him to shut his fucking mouth; or, to keep staring at who-knows-what, again until he hit him or yelled at him because it was disturbing to see him in complete silence. Lavi was Lavi, there was no definition for him, really.

Maybe he was growing too fond of that redheaded idiot, Kanda warned himself, frowning.

And it certainly does not help that Lenalee had found in his pantry things he doesn't even remember having bought, but they clearly were for Lavi, since no one else would ever eat that stuff...

If he had started to automatically buy even the food he knew the young journalist liked, maybe things were really beginning to become serious.

The smile on Lenalee's face had been quite eloquent about it.

_Dammit._  
And it had only been five days since the first threat message.

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The next day, as soon as he came to the Precinct, he was informed that the Captain was looking for him. Kanda immediately presented himself to his chief, though reluctantly.

He obediently took a seat in Tiedoll's office, looking impassive as always to all appearances, but nervous as hell inside.

Why his stepfather had him called? Someone else had understood the connection between the book and the homicides?

"Yuu-kun," Tiedoll begun, after pulling the blinds and shutting the door "You should protect your friend," he continued, coming straight to the point.

Kanda was about to reply on the misuse of his name, when the next request made him open his eyes wide in surprise.

"Why on earth?" He countered, pretending to be unaware of the whole thing, but the captain (as well as his guardian) knew him too well to fall for it.

"Yuu-kun, I know that you immediately noticed the similarities between your novels and the murders." He said, and Kanda was afraid he was going to violently blush as he felt his face going on fire, by learning in such a way that his mentor had read _those things_ about him and Lavi. He swallowed empty air, unsure of what to say, and Tiedoll kept his speech on. "I have assigned the case to you for a reason, but as I feared now the journalist is also involved by dint of being around you." The man showed him a little sheet of paper, and Kanda knew even before reading it that it was another threat.

"_Tch,_" escaped from his lips, as he discovered the message contents.

'I will have my Red Head' was written on the note.

"And I'm sure he wasn't referring to the Ferrari." Tiedoll said, worried. The man was always worried about something, Kanda thought, a really unbearable attitude in his opinion, but this time he was right. He was concerned as much as his stepfather was; this was the sixth threatening message Lavi had received in different places. It seemed that the killer always knew where to find him, and that really represented a problem. "The message was delivered by an errand boy, who said he had received it from a bum. It's therefore impossible to trace the real instigator." continued the captain, finally concluding his report with the request he had planned to make from the very beginning. "If this doesn't upset you too much, I'd like to assign you the duty of being his bodyguard."

He had expected it. Kanda answered to that with an annoyed grimace; as if he wasn't already doing it! Of course he would protect his idiot journalist, they were now practically living together, whether he liked it or not.

"I will, Sir, no problem." He assured his chief. "Given that the idiot insists on following me everywhere, it won't be difficult."

"Very well, you can go." Tiedoll nodded, satisfied.

"Captain." Kanda saluted leaving the office, and under his colleagues' inquisitive gaze he went back to his desk.

"What did the boss say?" A puny detective with a skinny and sharp face asked. "He gave you a good telling-off, confess!"

"_Che_. Not at all." Kanda was about to get his hands around Daysha's skinny neck and break it, so as to wipe that idiotic smile off his face once and for all, when Marie stepped between them, informing both that there has been a new murder.

The Japanese detective couldn't help but wonder where Lavi was at that moment, as a hint of fear gripped his heart.

However, arrived at the place where the body was found every concern vanished, because the idiot was already there with his albino minion. He would rebuke him for this rash act later, Kanda vowed.

"It's the victim of your forth story," Miranda said, puzzled. "He's missed one, why?"

"Because this one has red hair," the Medical Examiner pointed out, turning the corpse face-down. "Et voilà!" The man exclaimed, revealing the words traced with blood on the victim's back, who was conveniently wearing a white shirt.

_LAVI_  
"Well, looks like the killer is jealous of your partner, Kanda." Marie said in a worried tone, observing the new dead body and the message that went with it.

"He's not my... Oh, to hell with that!" Kanda exclaimed, turning back in exasperation, but he found himself facing Lavi's shocked expression. He was staring at the words with a hand over his mouth, and the albino guy next to him, equally shaken, was tugging at his shirt calling him, in an attempt to get the youth back to his senses. For an endless instant the Japanese detective froze on his spot.

"You should hug him, don't you see how much he's upset?" The Medical Examiner reproached him, as he closed the body into a black plastic bag, preparing it for the trip to the morgue.

"He's a fucking journalist dammit! They never get upset!" Kanda snapped, shaking his fist at the man, but when he _brought his attention back_ to Lavi, he was looking at him with a hurt expression, his only eye visibly wet. Kanda sighed, defeated. He took Lavi by one arm, pulling him to himself, and the youth immediately hugged back, burying his face in Kanda's hair. "Damn bastards!" He hissed addressing his colleagues, who were giggling around him. "You'll pay for this!"

"Kanda, bring him away, it's better." Miranda suggested. "Go. We got it here."

This would only add fuel to the fire, but Kanda couldn't do anything at the moment to clear things up, and probably nothing he could say now or in the future would change that. He knew it too well. So, he gave up.

"Fine!" he said, grabbing Lavi by the shoulders and leading the man away with him. "But tomorrow I want all the details, and your report on my desk, doctor." He ordered everyone present, who nodded back. "And you," he added addressing the albino boy "Get lost, moyashi, I don't want you in the way at my house."

"L-Lavi s-sleeps at your place?" Allen stammered, surprised, comprehending only then why there were a certain kind of rumors going around in the newspaper's offices.

"Sure he's staying at my house, after this he needs protection, or the idiot here is able to get himself killed!" Kanda glared at the facial expressions saying 'Sure, sure...' with which his colleagues were looking at him, after having heard him give that particular answer. "I will square things up with you tomorrow, it's a promise!" He threatened, furious, walking away from the crime scene, dragging Lavi with him.

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* * *

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Notes:

(1) The "late night-final" is the expression used in the newspaper world to indicate the latest edition of a newspaper.


End file.
